Rackham

Since people keep bringing up Platinum and up should get separate lines and special activity times, I'm somewhat curious what percentage of cruisers you think would be eligible for these perks on any given sailing? 10%? 17%? 22%? The answer is, based on personal calculations from information here and on Cruise Critic from top tier events, approximately 33% of cruisers on any given sailing would be eligible. To put this into passenger counts, that means Oasis at 100% capacity would have 1,782 passengers eligible for private time on the Flowrider, priority boarding, or whatever else you're thinking of, basically making the perk meaningless. Which is probably why Royal isn't offering such a thing. (And if you're curious about Vision of the Seas, there would be approximately 804 passengers eligible.)

Sounds to me like Royal's doing the dinner theater version of Universal's Hogwarts Express, but the train doesn't move anywhere and you'll probably board through a door into the traincar without seeing the train (aka it's a themed room(s) with windows that have high quality displays behind them to show what you're "passing" by.) Interesting specially dinning concept since it shouldn't require too much of a footprint and Royal might have been able to squeeze it in somewhere where other options wouldn't really work. The old-school train aspect keeps things nicely compact.

No major difference to Carnival's (https://www.carnival.com/vifp) or NCL's (https://www.ncl.com/latitudes-rewards-program#tier_benefits) loyalty programs at those levels. What this tells me is the mass market lines know they don't need to offer much with their programs to keep people coming back early on. It's keeping people happy who frequently cruise, filling cabins that might otherwise go unsold, happy. People like retirees and those who cruise during the school year happy to keep ships' occupancy high (or at least as high as possible) during the off-season.

Are we placing bets that the price will be higher or lower than the cost of the Beach Club on CocoCay for any particular sailing?

Somewhat disappointed that no one said she's in "Ship shape," up to now.

At the moment, it's taking over Anthem's Cape Canaveral, Nassau, and CocoCay itinerary.

Looks like Caesars was anticipating this. "Please Note: You must have earned Tier Status with your current loyalty program in order for your status to be matched. Members must re-apply if qualified for a status match starting on 2/1 of every year. Caesars Rewards will not grant status to WR members who came into the WR program from a tier match promotion with other programs or who previously had recent Caesars Rewards status that was about to expire, and vice versa. " https://www.caesars.com/myrewards/partners/wyndham_resorts

Since it's a private island, she'll need to purchase a beach day/break/other to accompany you to the island.

Typically multiple appetizers and deserts are allowed, but only one entrée. Basically, ask your server and see what they say if you're interested in multiple entrées. I will say that the appetizers and desserts are often closer in portion size to land-based restaurants than the MDR.

I can't tell you about the wine, but I can say that aboard Anthem last month the Aperol spritzes kept coming for no additional charge. YMMV.

If you're concerned about views, I wouldn't bid on a RoyalUp. It's a blind auction where you're bidding on whatever comes available in a category, not too dissimilar to a GTY booking. It's possible your RoyalUp bid gets you a cabin with worse views or locations than wherever you were initially assigned.

I'll be there and drinking through Royal's bar menus in the name of research.

If Royal's IT was better, and this would make the process easier for everyone involved with a dining package including their staff, is when booking the dining package passengers choose their preferred restaurants and times blocks (ex. Day 3; Teppanyaki; 6:00pm - 7:00 pm) then reservations are assigned and sent out closer to the sailing. On 3-5 night packages, Royal could guarantee the day, restaurant and time block; with UDP they could guarantee the time block and that you'll be able to visit each restaurant selected for a reservation at least once during the sailing. Or Royal could go for broke, turn the dining packages into a Restaurant GTY, and have purchasers select which restaurants they'd like to use the package at, then assign dining times between 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm and which day the reservation is happening on. Toss in a comped MDR lobster tail, during specialty dining, if the reservation falls on lobster night to keep people happy.

Running the numbers, that's not a bad deal if traveling with a group who's not receiving drink vouchers and didn't buy the DBP or if someone with vouchers wants more wine than they have vouchers for. Otherwise, paying the difference between the voucher benefit and the per glass cost was cheaper on the bottles I ran the numbers for. Though there are bottles that Royal doesn't sell by the glass, so there's that too.

The host/waiter for Chef's Table on Oasis was saying it's 5 glasses to a bottle with their pour size.

Look for the b-series of treatments in the spa. Though Royal's asking $159 to $299 for the IVs on Allure. From the company who's making the product: https://thebiostation.com/nutrient-iv-therapy/

Hadn't heard this before, but apparently it's not a chemical reaction between the fats and alcohol, it's the fat sticking to the stomach lining slowing the absorption of alcohol into the body. "If you eat before ingesting alcohol, your body will thank you later on. The fat in something like a greasy burger actually sticks to the stomach lining longer, which slows the absorption of alcohol into your bloodstream. In parts of the Mediterranean, swallowing a spoonful of olive oil is even a thing." https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/the-science-behind-why-drunk-food-eaten-before-getting-drunk

Not to my knowledge. This sounds like something to add to Wikipedia and let the masses keep it up to date.

Nope. The discount should apply to non-alcoholic beer if you'd like one.

Breakfast, coffee, and fresh air. With that said, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. From Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hangovers/symptoms-causes/syc-20373012 Three large takeaways which people can easily incorporate shipside without much thought: Don't drink on an empty stomach. Eat frequently. Drink water frequently while indulging. Partake in your alcoholic beverages slowly. Savor the drink instead of slamming it back. Mayo recommends no more than one an hour. My suggestion is to also add in a rehydration beverage to sip on between boozy liberations, if you're really going at it, because you're going to be urinating more, which means losing salts quicker, which will contribute to dehydration and more intense hangovers. Liquid IV is popular, though I skip these sorts of flavored powders and bring WHO formula ORS to mix with water aboard.

I doubt that based on what they've said during investor earnings calls. Royal feels that they're too much of a good value and are slowly working their prices to where they'd like them to be when it comes to fare. On cruise planner purchases, it's what people are willing to pay. So many people feel that they need internet and a drink package that Royal still hasn't hit the price ceiling on these items yet. They may or may not be close, but there can always be another sale if purchases drop off. Edit: Black Friday pricing is to capture the market segment who waits for Black Friday for their purchases and those who can't or won't pay more. If Black Friday pricing ends up cannibalizing full-priced sales, I expect Royal to reduce the discount being offered during the sale. Much like they've changed around the discounts on last-minute bookings due to reduction in people booking earlier, at a higher price point, when there was sharp cabin discounts a few weeks before sailing.

Looking forward to the trip report on Cruise Critic.

Least favorite has been Oasis (Oasis-class) due to how it felt the ship's design limited ocean views from many of the passenger decks, but at the same time, Central Park was impressive. The number of live entertainment venues and performances was nice. Royal completely nailed the ship as a destination with this class. Most favorite has been Adventure (Voyager-class) from the combination of things to do aboard, the itinerary with the feeling that we're going on something like an adventure, and how the ship felt like a ship with the ocean views. Honorable mention for Anthem (Quantum-class). Felt like a mix of Oasis and Voyager with its own unique thing going on. I don't know if it'd be my first choice for warmer water sailings, but for a winter sailing from New Jersey, the indoor public space design was really nice. There's really not a bad ship in the fleet. It's what you're looking for on a particular sailing that should guide your choice.

I'm curious as to what was on the menu? Any chance there's a picture of it? As it sounds more like jealousy at this point than a lousy MDR lunch menu.

Can anyone chime in who's recently done a B2B if the MDR lunch is still being offered? https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2826602-no-more-dining-room-lunch-for-b2b-passengers-fleet-wide-change/ Reading through the thread first is important. From OP over there on page 4. "The officer in charge of in transit guests was checking us off her list as we showed up for testing. I mentioned the B2B letter did not say anything about lunch and she confirmed since there were so few doing B2B it was decided not to have one. The F&B manager told me they have a cutoff number and if that number is not reached or close, the lunch is not scheduled." Edit 3: Page 4 has a picture of what the B2B MDR menu looked like in early 2022.