bobroo

On 10/14/2021 at 12:27 PM, D Alt said:

Who are your favorite Captains and why?  What ship did they command? 

Watching a video talking about Captain Kate from Celebrity and this got me thinking about others.  Here is her profile on FB: Captain Kate

Story about her: Cruise Industry News

her cat's insta: Kate's Cat

How many female captains does RC have? 

Operate a boat????

Captain Kate McCue should be promoted to CEO of RCL. Captain Kate would be the breath of fresh air that would change Royal Caribbean and it's subsidiaries for the better and give them a long overdue solid, unified direction moving forward. 

If you would like to try scuba at Coco Cay, the excursion you are looking for is called Discover Scuba.

It for first timers and is a real good introduction to the mechanics and rules of scuba. You’ll get some decent bottom time too.

Ummmm.....I don’t mean to step on everyone’s buzz but consider the following situation:
 

A couple has at sometime in their lifetime been on a Royal Caribbean cruise. (Perhaps as little as a 3 nighter to Nassau out of Miami)

This same couple goes on (3) 7 night cruises in a Jr Suite between now and Sept ‘22......

SHAZAAM!  They are Diamond.

Anyone else upset about this?

Absolutely requires Open Water certification and at least one completed dive within the past year.

Small note: they still pull each diver out to the dive site behind a jetski, which is the charm of doing the dive.

Ya’ know what Royal has done a good job with so far on the Barbados Island Hop cruises? The shore excursions for Trinidad, Tobago, and St. Vincent.

Good job shore excursions team!

2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

YIPPEE !!!  We are booked.  Feb 20 14 nights.  2 BR Grand Suite on the aft.  While we were booking our room the other 2 BR GS got snatched up, too.  They are going fast.  Super great price, IMO.  They gave us a casino discount, resident discount, and balcony discount.  There was a military discount too but it was the same as the resident discount so we just took the resident so we don't have to worry about bringing a DD214 to the port.

Really excited about this one !!

Royal appropriately priced these with what I call "San Juan pricing". San Juan pricing is lower than "Florida" pricing because they take into account the adde airfare.

But even with that, the suite price per night for that 14 nighter is very, very low.  Good for you!

This is the second best news I've heard today!

New ports of call for Royal in St Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago; all in one cruise; and.....<drumroll> .......NO SEA DAYS!!!

I'm excited like European Cruise excited, Way to go Royal!

Could this mean the door is opening for stops in Venezuela????

Perhaps just as exciting are the new port stops in St Vincent and Trinidad.
 

Well......maybe they are porting in these places. When you go to book those stops are omitted from the itinerary.  So who knows???

Sadly, no mention of the most economical people mover: a zipline between FLL and Port Everglades. :0(

I would be very cautious about the CDC having an opinion poll of Americans what a reopening of cruising should look like; long time cruisers may not get the results they are expecting.

Jus' say'n....

How many people think we should buy a Monarch lifeboat for Matt to create a RCBlog studio/office/YouTube broadcast booth?

Or, should it just be the furnishings from one of the pool bars?

My question is, being beyond confident there will be no sailings this year: do I greatly increase my cabin categories on 2020 cruises in order to receive an inflated 25% part of the FCC???

If so, is this a company I want to front money to?   Will there even be a Royal Caribbean in 2021/2022???

This strangely feels familiar, like I am over-served in Casino Royale and trying to make financial decisions past midnight.

I do not understand the benefit of wholly owning Silversea at this point in time.

Crazy...

I think the company that operated the Royal Up program has been gone for months and will likely never return. Going forward, Royal Up is unnecessary.

Royal is simply substituting much higher pricing for balconies and above from day one.

I know it's unpopular here, but if they need to trim the manifest for social distancing purposes; it will strictly be done by 'How much did you pay?'.

We went in August of 2014 and only have good memories of the ruins at Tulum and of the Mía Restaurant & Beach Club who was the vendor for our beach break.

Yes it was hot and humid, it would be disappointing if it wasn't. I have very high regard for the Mayan culture and I don't think I'm going to far out on a limb by saying and hot and humid as it was touring the ruins, it was very much likely hotter and more humid at other places inland. The Mayans chose the locations for their settlements for astrological reasons; but I also think the Tulum location was chosen for it's ocean breezes and therefore cooler than other areas. The Mayans were not dumb by any stretch. The ruins are wonderful and speak for themselves.

It was the beach break that was the surprise! What a refreshing, well done experience! Yeah, it was hot back on the bus. I think it's fair to say nobody thought the air conditioning was adequate. I remember the ride taking 45 minutes or so. I also remember the road we took being no wider than the bus itself in places. But the Mia Restaurant and Beach Club more than made up for any discomfort. It was wonderful!!! A nice of a place as one could expect. Wave hopping in the surf, clean and friendly, and Oh! the buffet of food!  The abundance of guacamole was stunning. Their molcajetes must only make guacamole in 5 gallon increments, and they are not shy about making another batch.

Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY! Will your excursion go to the same resort? Well....who knows? Vendors change, prices change; and truth be told you will never actually find out until your bus pulls into their parking lot. A simple search on Google Maps will tell you all you need to know about the location of Mia Beach Club, what it looks like; and it's many neighbors who offer very similar services.

OH! You could grab a quick shower just before getting back on the bus to go to the ferry. That bus ride was far, far less uncomfortable.

Of interesting note, do you know how TA’s check for price reductions? No, they don’t have a software program that monitors their customers pricing; they do it through mock bookings at royalcaribbean.com just like you and me.
 

We all need to appreciate our TAs more.
 

I gotta tell you guys I am troubled by Matt's recent post about the proposed EU guidelines. I've been thinking about it quite a bit over the weekend.

It's not the guidelines themselves, they seem so simple. I have always thought that when cruising resumes the change in culture will be harder than the changes themselves. That's why I have been upset that Royal has not come out and said "we are going to create many areas for hand washing", "we are going to reform the old practices of embarkation to allow for social distancing", or "we are changing the way we serve food"; very, very easy and conscientious changes that cost very little.

And, it's not that our promised "Blue Ribbon Panel" may in fact be those VP's who co-authored the EU guidance.

It's the reaction to the post. It's the thought that all people care about is whether they have to wear a mask. Wearing a mask is the deal killer; nothing else matters. They don't give a damn about changes that improve passenger's safety and cleanliness. What matters is Are you going to make me wear a mask???

If "Are you gonna make me wear a mask?" are the type passengers filling Royal ships is the future, then I don't think I want to be sharing the ship with you folks for a week; I'm not that kind of person.

It would come as no surprise to me if 10 or 15 Royal ships were decommissioned by the end of the summer.

Just my opinion: if losing online contact with this company brings a big knot in your stomach; you should probably be reevaluating the value in your life you are allowing Royal to have. 

Jus' say'n

I suspect Vanessa's (Insiders) predicament has resonated through the corner offices in Miami.

Therefore there are good reasons (and perhaps correctly) to price those newly opened big rooms sky high. There is also likely a minority saying "that's price gouging, there are marketing problems with that". So they have decided not to make a decision.

I have had thoughts about Royal having an art liquidation auction before they tow the Oasis class ships to some foreign soiled scrapyard. And the prices received being far, far less than what we have been told the art installations onboard are worth.

I think Super Mario could pick up that million dollar spinning head on Harmony for just a thousand or two.

30 minutes ago, DunwoodyDad said:

 

Again, my key point here is that all other US travel businesses have opened or are opening...why can’t they?  I do agree with some of the posts above that it’s rooted in taxes, number of jobs of US citizens Impacted vs non citizens, bad lobbying, etc.  Plus all the negative press from the Princess ships. 

Is it not impossible to think that the cold shoulder by the CDC is due the fact that cruisers are notoriously sloppy and lazy? The demographic class of the typical cruise ship passenger is over 60 years old and has known health issues? The reason the CDC has been deliberately silent is because a cruise ship has so many factors making it a pandemic bullseye that at this point in time it's off-the-charts crazy to change behaviors and make them a safe place???

Also, you are aware of what happens if any single person; passenger or crew, enters the medical facility on floor two not feeling well with a respiratory problem? You know the chain of events, right?

3 hours ago, DunwoodyDad said:

The point here back to my original post is that if I can choose to take a vacation with my family to the beach and pool and restaurants While staying in a hotel in Florida, why not do the same things on a cruise ship pulling out of a Florida port?  Its really the same thing from an exposure perspective and is a decision I am making  

 

Let me ask, you would have no problem with you and your family boarding Enchantment, Vision, Independence, Adventure, or Liberty this weekend from some Florida port? Let’s say sailing an exciting itinerary of Labadee, Colon, Maracaibo, and top it off with a stop in Mobile? Is it of any significance Royal has implemented zero changes In passenger health and safety over the past 3 months? Would you like your cruise to be “business as usual” of Coca Cola freestyle machines, escape rooms, rides on a North Star 300’ in the air, or zip lining,  rock climbing, or maybe iFly (as long as the kids wear a helmet)? How about a 50 person hot tub in the afternoon? An inside cabin to keep cost low?
 

You would not bat an eye to doing any of this?

Maybe a good way to avoid all the nonsense it to book last minute only. Meaning, you'l know if two weeks from now the sailing is going to happen. You'll know what the conditions are onboard. And, you'll know how much it is going to cost.

I know it's not the way Royal wants us to play the game, but there are just too many variables that negatively affect passengers. Don't be a bag holder.

A couple observations.

It should not go unsaid that the majority of work TAs are doing today is for free. TAs do not get paid to Lift and Shift. TAs don't get paid to fight for refunds. TAs certainly don't get paid by the hour while they are on hold. We, as advanced cruisers, should be the adult in the room. Even though it is not required, if you've used your TA to save your bacon recently I think an envelope with a thank you and a gift card to your TAs local grocery store is absolutely in order. There is no such thing as "free".

Royal Caribbean frequently makes foot faults but this Allure situation is different. This is directly throwing passengers under the bus.  Add in the "Oh yeah, newsflash; in case you didn't notice Allure is not being amped" The sun rises the next day. "Up, up, up, up, hang on......yeah we already contracted and may have even paid for design work, engineering, and contractors to make fancy, colorful additions so.....we are just going to implement them at a later date. But you shouldn't like Allure any less." My take is that these two events show a lack of caring and frustration at the Miami headquarters. A lack of a plan and a lack of leadership. It is of the first "pain" passengers are going to feel because of the financial situation. Your red flag meter should be going crazy.

I've said long ago that hospitality has left the cruise industry. I'm fearful that going forward, a dishrag might make a better host.

We should be seeing another TA video from Richard Fain soon, I am hoping for some WOW!, not what's sitting in my kitchen sink.