Rackham

32 minutes ago, KristiZ said:

There’s a city bus that will drop you just over a mile from the Visitor Center. The walk is on a paved path, so no worries about traffic. Might be Route 3, if I recall. 

Someone over on Reddit apparently is part of the visitor bureau for Juneau. Bold face added.

"I operate Travel Juneau, the visitor bureau for the city. If you are inbound to Juneau after July 7, please be aware:

Transportation and tours to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center and the area around it operate under annual permits through the USDA Forest Service. Because of record-breaking numbers of visitors to Alaska’s Capital City, all shuttle operators are approaching their annual limit. There is a small pool of combo tours to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center available for purchase same-day on the docks. We encourage your to consider taking a city or whale-watching tour, take in our award-winning state museum, or enjoy our walkable downtown.

Alternatives to the glacier shuttles include car rental, taxis, Uber or Lyft. Travel Juneau asks that visitors not use the municipal bus system. We appreciate your understanding!"

In response to why they're asking people not to use the bus.

"We've been asked by Capital Transit to discourage use of the public bus, as it's been displacing the residents who rely on it at various times of the day and especially on weekends. I have friends and family who ride the bus, and they frequently have to wait for another bus because the one they wanted was completely full."

https://www.reddit.com/r/Cruise/comments/14tm7n3/heads_up_no_walkup_shuttle_ticket_sales_in_juneau/

36 minutes ago, Jill said:

I was planning to book alaska in 2025 but now seriously considering Norway. It’s on our bucket list. I thought the changes in Norway were after the 2025 season. I hope so.  
 

I was all excited when it was thought odyssey was replacing anthem in the UK and I wanted to book Odyssey to Norway. Now the port schedule is saying Independence out of the UK. Guess I’ll know come this November when dates are released. 

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.

3 hours ago, Michellebno said:

One of our expedited passports got held up due to the unprecedented demand this summer. It took well over the 7-9 weeks plastered on everyone’s sites. I called constantly from 8am-10pm for a week to get an in person appointment. There were none to be had across the country. I had to get my congressman involved and  they finally mailed it Monday. It’s arriving today or tomorrow - too late for us to make our sailing tomorrow.   What I don’t understand is why Royal Caribbean won’t allow us to rebook. They have availability for the next two weeks. I did everything humanly possible to make it on that ship. This is not my fault; we applied in April.  The airline let us rebook.   Now we’re out $3,000 and we don’t get a vacation. This really sucks!   Do I have any recourse at all?

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.

16 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

feeling we will be hearing about it 4Q23

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). 

2 hours ago, ApexoftheSeas said:

Galveston can fit an icon class. I wonder if an icon class will go to Europe.

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.

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.

12 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

There's a travel agent website that has all the sale flyers posted.

I'm not sure if it's a no-no to post it (I'm not a travel agent but it's not password protected or anything). It has to do with always being loyal if you want to play around with google. Or maybe I'm just being silly and someone else will share it.

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

13 hours ago, Thumper44 said:

Does anyone know how Costa Maya got developed?  Because that kind of seems like the middle of nowhere.  

Did a Navy or oil pier or something exist there prior to the cruise ships and related development?

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

7 minutes ago, twangster said:

Can someone post a URL?

CAS still hasn't figured out a way to send me any emails despite being signed up.  

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

3 hours ago, ApexoftheSeas said:

Do you think that Royal Caribbean could order more Icon class ships and/or a new class anytime soon?

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.

18 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

WTF!!!.... Ok so the app has updated and now I can see the menus for our 8 day December sailing on Symphony from Ft Lauderdale and there is no complimentary lobster on Royal night. The nights listed are as follows: Welcome Aboard, A Taste of France,  A Taste of the UK, A Taste of the Mediterranean, A Taste of Italy, Welcome to Bon Voyage, Welcome to Royal Night. Only breakfast listed for Day 8.

Royal Night main courses are: Lemon-Butter Baked Cod, Chicken Marsala, New York Strip Steak, Cottage Pie, Grilled Jumbo Shrimp,  Vegan Stuffed Red Bell Pepper, and Spicy Shrimp Jalfrezi. The only lobster offered is the $16.99 upcharge one or the $34.99 Surf & Turf.

What gives here?

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.

3 hours ago, D Alt said:

So how are C&A members able to book?  is it only if you're on a cruise (nextcruise) or can you call them to book or can you log in as a member and book online? 

when I booked Icon the day before it went public I was on a ship.  

 

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.

2 hours ago, ScottD said:

I was under the impression that people found Carnivals food better? Or is it just some areas like buffets...or just the amount of FREE food available. I know I constantly see people praising something about Carnival food (but that's about it)

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. 

Just now, WAAAYTOOO said:

Some ideas are best left unshared…

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

1 hour ago, Mikei31 said:

I’ll be very curious to hear how crowded and busy icon feels.  Some of those new features will be in very high demand.  Swim up bar, infinity pool.  Etc.  

I fear it’s going to be so crazy that it’s not enjoyable.  I’d be curious to see the initial reviews from Oasis as a comparison

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.