sk8erguy1978

5 hours ago, jticarruthers said:

At $65 a day you are talking 9 beers a day for me to break even ... i dont do coffee, i usually dont do mixed drinks, etc. .... as a Diamond i get 3+ free beers a night ... the convenience factor isnt enough to bite on that.

At $50ish ... i'm all about the convenience and come close to break even.

What works for some doesn't work for others. I'll admit, we probably wouldn't get the coffee & water without a package. Soda, maybe a can a day. However we do quite a few pool side drinks and plenty at night. We are also diamond members. So for us it works but $65 is about my breaking point.

Watched a Q&A series someone was doing with him. One thing he mentioned was having a "home base." So, he does have a home on land.

I have a trip planned for Memorial Day weekend, I suspect the hotel to extend their closure, but waiting until that happens. United is currently offering upgrade to first for $269 PP (that's one way, no idea for return as I used points and cannot upgrade). That's for a 5-ish hour flight, NY to Vegas. I'd jump on it but I don't see the trip happening. No need to just put myself into a larger voucher.

Also was planning on seeing a friend in June, those flights are in the $100 dollar range. That's a short 2.5 hour flight on American.

30 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Out of wine and beer. Had to break out the emergency bottle

You'll be in my thoughts this evening. I hope you'll be doing a supply run tomorrow.

4 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

I can tell you here that  not ONE of my friends who if I told them those drink prices would ever sign up for a cruise...

At the $65 dollar price for one of my cruises I have my heavy drinking friends saying they'd rather just pay per drink. I try and say it's not that unreasonable given onboard prices, but they don't buy it (no pun intended). I cannot see people spending $90 per day and if individual prices increase to support that number. Ouch. Not good.

16 hours ago, luv2sail said:

3. Does Royal even have enough cash to continue to offer refunds?

5 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Royal has taken out about $4 billion through its available lines of credit to shore up liquidity and “cash on hand”. That’s for short-term / near-term use, so yes, they will be able to continue issuing refunds if they do more cancellations.

Yep. I think the question is: Do they want to issues refunds? To that, the answer is no (in my opinion) hence the 125% future OBC.

I'd probably take the full refund when/where I can honestly. I (thankfully) do not need the cash but rather it earn a little interest in my Ally cruise savings account.

2 hours ago, mathbees said:

I've had a lot of friends over the years question cruises because of the norovirus outbreaks.  I always point out to them that norovirus outbreaks happen often in a lot of different places.  The difference is that WHEN a major outbreak occurs out on a cruise ship, you hear about it because people connect the dots.  When a major outbreak happens at Disney or a sporting event or any number of social gathering places, you don't hear about it because the people disperse before the symptoms manifest and often to very diverse regions (hence no connecting the dots).  

Yep. I've said that too, most have gone their separate ways or don't report it to anyone. They stay in the hotel room complaining how they should have never had X (insert bad food they are blaming).

I've honestly given up arguing with people about it. I'll say my point, to a point, but a lot of those who claim how you're doomed to be in a sardine can with thousands of people and guaranteed to get norovirus either let the media fear them, or aren't big cruise fans anyway. I personally figure my chances of getting sick on a cruise ship or on land is about the same. Either I come in contact with some virus or I don't. Either my body puts up a good fight or it doesn't. I don't judge you and don't care if you judge me. :)

9 minutes ago, Cile said:

To seat on balcony at night before bed and listening ocean. And same in the morning. I miss it so much. 

This is one of my favorite things to do. Late at night, a stack of cookies, a few (okay 4+) slices of pizza and my last drink of the night. So peaceful.

Hoping cruising is "normal" by September, just catching up with the Oasis of the Seas. We have not sailed her since 2012. Boy do we miss her & are excited to see all the changes.

This was inventory on March 20th. Tomorrow at lunch I'll be making a supply run. Who needs toilet paper.

13 minutes ago, Mr. Candyman said:

I guess the beer won!!

Friday while everyone was buying everything at the local supermarket... I went to the liquor store and beer store! #iamadrinkpackagekindofguy

I'll be the honest, realist, voice and say I'll probably do nothing different. Soon things will settle down and it'll no longer be covered by media. People will forget all about the extra precautions they once took.

On a cruise I wash my hands often but don't put much thought into getting sick. I'll do the same on my upcoming sailing in September.

I sing Happy Birthday to me ...

Not until September 20th and December 6th so yes. However, I'd still sail if it was yesterday.

11 hours ago, twangster said:

RCI lost 67% in 2008, so far they are only at 61% but that will change this week.  It's not exactly unchartered waters, they managed the last couple of times, they'll weather through again.  It's not just cruise industry stock either, the whole market is in the dumps.  

PS - It'll be something else in 2028 or 2030.    This isn't the first and it won't be the last time the stock takes a big hit.  Wait for the bottom and start buying when it starts to consistently trend upward. 

Also, last year when asked about a pending recession that in the winds Royal responded that they won't make the mistake they made last time.   Last time they put projects and expansion on hold during the downturn.  They stated next time they'll continue with expansion targets taking advantage of softening in shipyard business and the like to turn it into an advantage.  

I missed out in 2009 and will not miss out here. I might not buy 100 shares for the OBC offer, but will be considering a few shares to add to my portfolio.  

To your last point, maybe that's the reason for the line of credit, as my guess, to keep projects moving and customers happy (refunds, etc which will hit bottom lines and publicized come next earnings report).  

1 hour ago, bobroo said:

I think they will dock all the ships until at least September. It will be cheaper to cease operation than try to combat the hostile environment.

I'm not a financial person but total revenue as of 12/31/2019 is just shy of 11 billion and profit is just shy of 5 billion. They'll weather the storm. Of course having access to a larger line of credit will help keep big projects plugging along while they take the financial impact.

In no way do I see them docking any ship. The process to take a boat out of a local marina is a pain (getting it wrapped and all that) imagine a cruise ship! 

1 hour ago, JennyB said:

am i the only one who wishes I had the time and a bit of extra money now to go on one of the cruises that people are now NOT going on?  do you think they'll drop prices to try to get others to cruise as people cancel?

 

No. An extra grand and an extra week of vacation time and I'd be gone tomorrow... Scratch that, today!

6 hours ago, JLMoran said:

To paraphrase The Shawshank Redemption, I've decided to get busy living rather than get busy dying

My favorite quote from one of my favorite movies.

I used a smaller point and shoot camera with a wrist strap. This was in 2012 but doubt anything has changed.

12 hours ago, Neesa said:

I like the RCCL business model, and do invest for long term, I'm not a trader. The balance sheet is strong, and yes I believe in the investment, don't do it for the measly OBC.

+1. Couldn't agree more, buy because you believe in the company. Buy as many shares as you can afford, don't think 100 shares is the minimum... 1 is the minimum!

15 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

This isn't too new...these were available in my cruise planner for the entire year leading up to my cruise this past September and February. I can't speak to before that - I was in an 8 year dry dock.

Ah. Never noticed prior. In 2018 I had to purchase a gift for my wife via Royal Gifts. One Friend last year purchased us champagne and another friend purchased his wife decorations, I'm going to ask them if it was available. 

Maybe I just pay too little attention to areas outside of the beverage packages 

14 hours ago, plasticmaster said:

In fact, we even had to explain it to a few guests who took it upon themselves to lecture us on the importance of using hand sanitizer.

Just reply... "Actually, the CDC says to only use hand sanitizer when soap and water isn't available... So not as important as the soap I just used."

The responses are already spot on, I'd add, use the hand sanitizer in front of the crew member.

7 hours ago, Balsam said:

If they did the "correct" thing

The "correct" thing nets the player -.05% so unless they can count card and doing so on a cruise... I agree, just play your cards. LOL.

I've seen some really dumb moves play out for people... Those same dumb moves usually ended in my loss, so I do understand the aggravation, but I'm not at a $10 blackjack table looking to "earn" a living. 

In addition to the casino offerings, I'm also seeing items you once had to gift yourself via the Royal Gifts section of the website. (Decorations, chocolate covered strawberries, champagne, beach toys, etc.)