Rackham

That's really up to the individual. I found that 3 full days, and evenings throughout the sailing, was plenty of time to experience everything Oasis has to offer. Do book show reservations in advanced (will be available about 30-40 days before sailing) so you can see the shows when you'd like to see them.

I want an investigation into why the bars have taps, but limited draft beer selection.

The senior officers aboard have been saying spring 2025 for amplification.

My gut feeling is sales on these items are down due to price increases. While Royal does have a large percentage of new cruisers per sailing, enough aren't biting on these purchases due to a combination of price and enjoying what's included in the fare for the first time. Long time C&A members remember when prices were far more reasonable (even adjusting for inflation) or are more likely to know pricing for similar offerings on Royal's competitors. Thus, Royal is offering special discounts to C&A members to drum up sales. So through offering the occasional C&A discount, it's something of a win for everyone involved. Royal sells unsold reservations while displaying they value loyalty. Previous cruisers with Royal receive actual discounts on cruise planner items.

https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/royal-caribbean-cruises-ltd-a23-1198946-royal-caribbean-cruises-ltd.html It's my understanding the test load cruises are higher priced during the test load period. Once the full load happens, prices will start lower than where they were during the test load period. Or at least that's what's happened historically.

Only you can answer that. But if time you have available doesn't mesh with when you can visit, then is it something to get sad over? With that said, due to regulations changing on where ships can sail in Norway starting no later than 2026, if you're wanting to visit Geiranger on a RCCL ship, realistically your last chance is summer 2024. It appears the stepping in of new emission regulations will keep out Royal's current fleet starting in 2025. Edit: It's also not like Geiranger has a lock on fjord beauty either. Take a look at what the other ports of call are using something like Google Earth to get a feel for what's there.

They've increased the voucher count by one after the vouchers were introduced, which tells me the voucher program had a serious amount of unused funds budgeted based on passenger use, and there's multiple ways for them to make up for the lost revenue. From a pure cost perspective, looking at the Allure sailing I was on last summer, there was 6,600 pax aboard. Of those, 277 were Diamond, 149 Diamond Plus, and 46 Pinnacle. Assuming everyone used their vouchers for premium cocktails, and assuming Royal's cost per cocktail was no more than $4, that means Royal's daily cost was $8,516 or $59,612 for the week to service the vouchers. The cost of servicing the vouchers in this example, divided among every passenger aboard, would be $9 for the week. Without trying to model the effects of drink packages, revenue lost by Royal on drinks which would've been bought if not for the vouchers, and the revenue made by Royal because Diamond and up loyalty members chose to sail with them versus another line, adding ten bucks to everyone's fare to keep and encourage customers who've shown that they're interested in your product, when the total cost and company profits are significantly higher, is a no brainer. I suspect if Royal isn't already factoring in C&A benefit cost based on an individual sailings, versus an annual average, they'll start soon. i.e. Sailings popular with Diamond and up members will have fares starting higher to compensate for the additional cost to service C&A benefits aboard while random summer sailings in the Caribbean will have a lesser tariff factored in. Though depending on servicing costs, Royal might just increase things across the board for that sweet additional profit on sailings with limited higher C&A tiers aboard. Edit: Just ran the numbers on my Brilliance, Multi-glacier cruise from this summer. Royal's weekly cost, based on the assumptions above, spread among everyone aboard would be about $4.

Getting this roll call started. 13 nights to the top of the world and through world heritage fjords which won't be sailable by Royal soon. ---- Going to add links and such as I think about it below this line. This is certainly not a comprehensive list. Rather it's things I've bookmarked and such. For a few attractions which are possible to visit on this cruise have free audio tours available in the app "VOICE OF NORWAY" available in the iOS and Android app stores. Hop-on/Hop-off buses through CitySightseeing (city-sightseeing.com) are only available at very limited ports of call in this itinerary. There is at least one location they're servicing which is asking visitors to the site to check back at a later date. Day 3 (Sun July 7, 2024) - Geiranger Shore excursions available with: https://emob.no/en/ (This company rents the minicars Matt mentioned in his trip review.) Day 6 (Wed July 10, 2024) - Honningsvag Shore excursions available with: https://www.northcapetours.com/en/ https://www.blue-puffin.com/en/ (Also offers a tour in Tromso.) Car rentals: https://www.nordkappbilservice.no/car-rental Day 7 (Wed July 10, 2024) - Tromso Public transportation app: https://fylkestrafikk.no/menu/tickets-and-fares/troms-billett-tickets-app/ Day 11 (Mon July 15, 2024) - Olden Shore excursions available with: https://www.oldencruise.com/ Day 12 (Tue July 16, 2024) - Bergen Shore excursions available with: https://vikingvoyages.no/ Hop-on/Hop-off Bus: https://city-sightseeing.com/en/67/bergen

I've booked a tour with Blue Puffin (https://www.blue-puffin.com/en/) for Honningsvåg and in their T&C they mention they'll adjust the tour for late cruise ship arrivals or early cruise ship departures. However, they also keep 10% of the tour cost if the ship can't make port to cover their expenses instead of a full refund.

I sail solo, and the extra point per night (when paying a single supplement) is in recognition that solo cruisers have to buy out the cabin by basically paying fare for a ghost on non-studio cabins on the vast majority of sailings. I don't sail suites, but the extra point there is for how much more expensive a suite is versus a non-suite cabin. Even Celebrity awards points differently depending on cabin booked and how many people are in it. Double point promos aren't happening anytime soon as Mr. Liberty (I believe) has said. And from the same conversation, Royal will be far more strategic about them in the future. I can also see the company changing to a "Double Points Promo*" where the fine print is earn an extra point per night when staying in any cabin instead of total points per night x2; aka the "Double Points" promotional title is based on nightly points awarded for double occupancy in an interior stateroom category cabin. Thus the maximum amount of points per night is 4, not 6, for sailing solo in a suite. Most people aboard would be earning 2-3 points per night under such a scheme versus 2-4.

Royal carries a full line of sugar free vodka. In fact, if your vodka has sugar in it, then something is wrong.

What I'm curious to see is the average % of passengers who are Diamond and above versus month. Because based on public postings it appears the number of Diamonds and up is less during school breaks and higher when school is in session.

Going to be contrary and say Texas because of the Star.

I wonder if they wouldn't keep the vouchers, but limit what they can be used on to a happy hour style menu? This would allow Royal to say the vouchers aren't going away, but also allow them to reduce the maximum value of each voucher.

The voucher system might actually be making Royal money. I remember reading a study, a number of years ago, which investigated why certain bars and restaurants are more popular than others. The researchers' conclusion was popular bars and restaurants are popular because they're doing decent business to begin with. People see the bar or restaurant with multiple customers and decide the place is a good place to be, creating a positive feedback cycle drawing in more customers. How this ties in with the drink vouchers is having 10%, or somesuch, of the ship eligible for comped alcoholic beverages guarantees people with bar beverages and active bar areas throughout the day. Then you add in the people with the DBP who don't have vouchers and suddenly 30%+ (guessing here) of the ship can at least visit a bar for drinks without encoring a charge. Now the remainder of adults aboard without vouchers or the DBP are seeing people enjoying themselves with liberations while on vacation. Thus, encouraging purchases of alcohol at regular shipboard pricing which might not have otherwise been ordered.

If you believe a particular poster over on CC, a limited happy hour menu in Celebrity's vein has been under consideration to replace the current drink vouchers. Wonder if we'd get something similar to the Captain’s Club breakfast with complementary premium coffees and limited bar menu on Royal if the vouchers did go away? (https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/03/23/celebrity-royal-caribbean-cruise-loyalty-reciprocity) I doubt they'll run another double points promo after what the last one did to their loyalty program's top tier numbers.

Unless you want to visit Peggy's Cove or the Titanic gravesite, everything is easily walkable from the pier. Off the top of my head, it was a 4 mile loop (the way I walked it) out to the fort with a visit to the old cemetery and city park, down to the nautical museum, then along the waterfront back to the pier where the ship ports. At the port itself there's a well done Canadian immigration museum too.

It doesn't sound like the plan is to merge benefits. Instead, it sounds like the plan is to modify the current rewards structures of the various RCG lines to more closely resemble each other.

They can. Had it there last summer (2023). I'm not really a fan of the dish though.

About a week in my experience.

That's what I've seen with the charts several different fare tracker sites have posted. With that said, I also have a premium account with Going (formerly Scott's Cheap Flights) and the best I've been seeing from the airports I've asked to receive flight notices on is maybe $300 cheaper than what I've booked through Air2Sea shortly after fares were entered. So after paying for a checked bag on a less than ideal flight for the cheapest price, I might be saving $150 by waiting. That's nothing to sneeze at, but I'd rather have a better flight, have the price locked in, and know my travel arrangements have been taken care of.

Something to keep in mind when looking at Air2Sea prices is that includes one checked bag per person. Or at least that's been the case with the flights I've investigated. That hasn't been the case when searching for economy flights on other websites. International roundtrip checked luggage has been am extra $150 or so when looking at the major carriers. Generic answer for best time to book is approx. 2 months after airfare was put on sale and at least 2 months before travel. Lowest price will be between these dates. However, thanks to cruise requirements (assuming arriving at least one day before embarkation and flying out same day as debarkation) the number of flights starts to become limited. Best deal flights might not be the best for cruising.

There was a new terminal constructed outside of town. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sitka-dock-kicks-off-2022-cruise-season-with-new-terminal-welcomes-two-ships-to-port-301546424.html It's my understanding that there's been two primary camps competing in Sitka for years. Those who profit from the cruise industry and those who would prefer the industry to leave. The second group feels that the town is turning from a place for those who live there to something akin to Disneyland. This ballot initiative is just another piece of the long running conflict between these two groups.

I've seen this offered on a sailing I'm on as well. As far as I can tell, transportation is included to The Village from the ship based on the language versus excursions were transportation isn't provided. The Village in this case being Junkanoo Village next to the Fish Fry, or possibly the large grassy area on the southern edge of the Fish Fry, (https://maps.app.goo.gl/h2t1J47664xE2QUx9) or The Village area on Paradise Island (https://maps.app.goo.gl/sXqCNuj8sPWTatt5A) either way I'm not convinced it's worth ~$60 per person for what's on offer. Nassau's greatest hits (excluding Paradise Island) are mostly walkable from the pier and the areas are safe. Yes, you'll probably get a few solicitations for excursions or drugs, but nothing a "No, thanks," and keep walking won't handle.