Rackham

The implantation of zero emission ships in Norway's World Heritage fjords has to start no later than 2026, but certain rules may go into effect before then. Quality information is somewhat hard to come by, but there is a chance certain rules might go into effect in 2025 which would prohibit Royal from running their ships in these fjords. We'll find out later this year if Royal will be able to run itineraries with these stops. Though due to the cruise contract, if Royal is uncertain themselves, they might go ahead and put itineraries with these ports on sale, then change the itinerary later (because the cruise contract allows them to) if they're unable to visit.

Since there was multiple posts with the discussion about June's C&A newsletter and not receiving a copy, here's what was sent out this morning about Utopia of the Seas. However, I don't think there's anything here we weren't already aware of.

Because with Royal, and I'm assuming other cruise lines as well, once you're inside the final payment date, there's cancellation penalties for switching cruises (and possibly a change fee on top). Inside of 30 days to the sailing, the cancellation penalty is 100% of your cruise fare which was spelled out in the cruise contract.

Right there with you on hearing about it then if it's going to happen. Let marketing do their thing with Icon and Utopia right now, then the team can spin up marketing on Icon-2 and Allure AMP later in the year. Keep the Royal hype train chugging along.

More icon-class? I'd be willing to bet on that. Bigger class? Never say never, but I got a feeling Royal's hitting the current ship maximum when it comes to size and passenger count. While larger ships have economies of scale, they do require beefy shoreside support and enough staff to make them work. On back to back, fully booked Oasis sailings, Royal's needing to demebark and embark ~11,200 passengers and their luggage in maybe 12 hours. Refueling the ship and bringing new provisions aboard has to happen. Which means having suppliers who can reliably deliver or provide the shear quantities of food and fuel required. The port has to be able to screen and check-in approx. 5600 people within a narrow window of time. Larger ships will require additional shoreside peeps just to get people aboard in facilities probably not designed to handle that many. Next, the ship needs places to go. There's only so many ports which can handle an Oasis-class ship. Not just with docking, but also with shorex opportunities and things to do with that many people visiting at once (not to mention any other ships in port).

I might be misunderstanding the European market for Royal, but I doubt an Icon-class will be positioned there for at least the first three ships. Europe is like Alaska in that it's port of call focused for the most part. The ship is less of the destination, versus in the Caribbean, so it doesn't make sense to run a ship class on these itineraries designed to draw people in due to the ship's resort amenities. Plus, Royal's going to want to run Icon-class where cruising and private island days are equal or greater than number of port days to maximize revenue capture too. My bet is on Miami, Port Canaveral, and Galveston receiving the first three Icon-class ships.

July 16th on Brilliance. Chart last updated July 5 at 11:09 pm. Sailing Date Royal Caribbean Ship Person July 6, 2023 Serenade WAAAYTOOO Vision TomGlo July 7, 2023 Anthem FionaMG July 8, 2023 Liberty Melkaps July 9, 2023 Allure luv2sail Wonder Ndfan89 July 10, 2023 Serenade TimeRacer July 14, 2023 Independence Snotarni Navigator WannaCruise Radiance alaska mcleods July 15, 2023 Serenade need2cruz July 16, 2023 Allure Cactus527, DJsMrs Brilliance Rackham Symphony Shaun530 Wonder Bruceleroy, CharmMicah68 July 17, 2023 Independence BethGR July 18, 2023 Liberty Robert M July 23, 2023 Allure CowboyMedic Wonder lovetocruise2002, TXcruzer July 27, 2023 Liberty Irene P July 28, 2023 Oasis PPPJJ-GCVAB July 29, 2023 Adventure smokeybandit Harmony Hutcherl July 30, 2023 Brilliance Fuzzywuzzy Symphony ckruetze Wonder letscruise July 31, 2023 Quantum Ryan79

I can't see Royal introducing adult only sailings. Royal's niche isn't adult only; it's multigenerational families and people looking for that style of resort. It's like asking Virgin to allow kids on some of their ships when that's not where they're placing themselves in the market.

I'm seeing the lowest price I've seen before for the DBP across multiple sailings at $64.99. The big thing during this sale, for me, isn't even 4th of July sale related. Dining finally went on sale for my holiday sailing and nabbed a Christmas Day lunch reservation at Chops for the usual Chops lunch price. Xmas dinner is $99.99; a personal sized bottle of Moët & Chandon Champagne and a lobster tail isn't worth the upcharge. Not to mention missing the rare holiday menu in the MDR.

https://loyaltoyoualways.com/ ?The official RCCL travel agent site? I imagine it's kosher, because otherwise it'd require a password to see.

https://journals.openedition.org/etudescaribeennes/3867?lang=en Parts of the article rewritten using ChatGPT to be less academic are found in the attached text file. Costa Maya Article Rewrite.txt

The only URL I'm seeing is for the personalized edition. So I quickly made a redacted copy without my personal information.

Expected deliveries in 2025 and 2026 based on price and tonnage. https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-ship-orderbook/ Edit: Interestingly enough, missed the part until after posting about class, 2027 would be the 30th birthday for half of Vision-class. Would be a good year to introduce "The Ultimate Family Adventure" based on their current marketing speak.

Unless the Asian market has a stronger demand than I think it would for an Icon-class, another bet on Galveston, but going to do a side bet on Port Canaveral. Sailing Icon-2 from Texas has the potential to encourage bookings from mid-America from people who want to drive instead of fly to the port and people who think flying to Miami is too far versus Galveston. The Galveston terminal shouldn't have any issues handling that many passengers on turn around day and was designed to handle the ship class too. Placing an Icon class ship in Galveston also would help marketing with making people aware that Royal sails from the port; even if they don't book Icon part deux, the awareness could increase bookings there on other Royal ships. Port Canaveral has the luxury of location nearby Orlando. While Utopia can capture the short cruise market, Icon-2 could capture the families looking for a short stay in O-town and a week aboard a ship.

I'm still waiting for an 80s, retro themed bar from Royal, the Hochbar.

I like them both. Labadee has this hidden Caribbean paradise vibe versus CocoCay's beach resort style. CocoCay's buffets are better, but they don't have Labadee's coconut macaroons.

I haven't booked Utopia, but looking in the cruise planner, there's no sales going on for the majority of items. Give Royal a few months (or so) and I'm willing to bet the usual discounts will be loaded in. Then the discounts will gradually evaporate on most things as they sell out or get closer to the sail date.

It's currently sailing the Med, so the menus being seen reflect that.

"pushed to the side" sounds like your luggage was in the baggage claim area, but wasn't collected before you left. MC&A is probably handling left luggage for Royal or for the port it was left at. A luggage tracker would've helped, but at this point for this situation, it's like closing the barn door after the horses escaped.

There was a special email that was sent out for Icon. I'm assuming calling in or contacting your travel agent would work as well.

Meyer Turku is dropping hints that geese are back on the menu aboard Icon.

My understanding was Royal's MDR and speciality dining was better (maybe the buffet was well), but Carnival's quick service and other included options put Royal's to shame.

Except if you look at their overhaul, it's a bit different than Royal's. Though it probably helps that the general consensus on Carnival's MDR was that Royal's was significantly better. "And while Royal Caribbean cut its menus back, Duffy [Carnival's president] said that Carnival has very different plans. "We plan to bring more variety with nearly 60 new entree presentations that will rotate through the menu in Main Dining Room," she said. The new menu will include offerings from the cruise line's specialty dining restaurants across the fleet. "We're also addressing bigger portion offerings on certain entrees based on your feedback," she added. Duffy also made it clear that fan favorites would still have a place on the menu and that more vegetarian choices are being added. The cruise line will also add an entree salad -- a "nice big salad with a protein," she shared." https://www.thestreet.com/travel/carnival-cruise-line-shares-huge-main-dining-room-menu-changes

Search for "Oasis of the Seas review 2010" (the ship was launched late 2009). Didn't see any negative reviews about crowds, excluding indoor spaces on rainy days and the comedy club. Did see people upset that reservations were needed for shows, the lack of teenage programming in general and daytime programming on sea days. Generally, people said Royal should just rename the ship "Wow of the Seas" because it's just mind blowing.

That makes more sense than "from Royal Caribbean Blog dot com" which I thought was a funny last name.