SteveinSC

171 days till Rhapsody of the Seas - April 04, 2020
Looking to book one in Hurricane season of 2021. Bring it, Mother Nature! 

Day 2
Day 2 is a sea day and kind of a lazy one.  We started with breakfast in the windjammer, followed by his and hers pedicures,.
The windjammer on Mariner is quite nice and wasn't too busy when we arrived.
Afterwards we made our way once again to the Diamond lounge for a little quiet time, and ten to our cabin to enjoy our balcony.  I took some time to start this blog and try out the new notebook I had gotten.  This is our first trip with the new notebook and the key is that it is powerful enough to process photos ant small and portable enough to carry in my camera bag which is only advertised to carry a tablet.  It is performing admirably.

Of course, the view from the balcony was not hard to take either!


Finally the time rolled around to 1PM, the reserved time for Key guests at the Flow Rider.  During the 1 hour session I was able to ride 3 times which is pretty good for that span of time.
There were some younger people there showing how its done.

When my turn came up, I tried starting on my own for the first time.  I have use d the FlowRider on several cruises before and always started with staff helping me.  It all worked out just fine and I was able to get going for several seconds on my first try.
I will upload videos of the first two runs later (VOOM isn't exactly cooperative right now)
On my final try I had a good run and my wife was taking still photos from start to eventual fall.



One note about FlowRider on Mariner compared to other ships is that they have riders lining up across the top of the FlowRider and call the next person down as the current gets started.  On most other ships people have been lined up beside.  Also the staff were making first time riders do a Boogie Board session before stand up.  Riders who had done that first run were given blue wristbands.  I somehow managed not to be made to do the Boogie Board on my first try, then on my second since I didn't have the  wristband they wanted me to do boogie.  I explained that they had already let me do stand up and they just gave me the blue band and let me continue stand up.
That was most of our activity for the Sea Day.  I did manage one more run on the FlowRider before our dinner reservation at Chops and the time spent in line for one turn was about an hour.

 

171 days till Rhapsody of the Seas - April 04, 2020
Looking to book one in Hurricane season of 2021. Bring it, Mother Nature! 

When Voyager class were the largest cruise ships in the world they were pretty much contained to the Caribbean.  Many places around the world grew port capacity to keep up.  Some destinations won't or can't.  Voyager class ships now can sail to a large number of destinations that was unthinkable 20 years ago.   When a port is looking to expand they are building to Oasis class standards if they can.  Twenty years from now will look a lot different than today.
Smaller destinations don't have the infrastructure to handle large volumes of day visitors.  Some don't want to be cruise ship destinations.  There will always be some smaller destinations that remain "boutique" in nature and geared for small ships.  Royal isn't trying to be everything possible across the cruise industry.  They are growing into a mass cruise line geared for destinations that can accommodate large volumes of day visitors.   
Volume is where the big money is.  Smaller lines can tailor themselves to smaller destination and still be profitable but at revenue numbers that are a fraction of where the big cruise lines are operating.  

Always comes down to the base price.........and total price at  end of the day.
 
Don't kid yourself..these 30% and BOGO really make no difference..I have been watching my cruise for about 40 weeks now..and with EVERY sale, its not better or cheaper then when I booked.
$300 OBC is a  great deal...but we don't know the length of the cruise or the cabin category you are refering to  for comparison....ROYAL offers $25 on inside...$50 on balcony and $100 on JS  or less on average on most cruises I have ever booked with them so...

Well today the news is that Grandeur is leaving the fleet and headed to Spain to join Sovereign and Monarch at Pullmantur Cruises. RC own 49% of Pullmantur. 
 
I would imagine as these ships age with their dated systems, RC might bring in new, smaller ships? With the newest ICON technology being built it would make sense to me to begin replacing the older, smaller ships with the same technology in a smaller package. 
At some point these smaller ships will need to be replaced in order to keep most of the European itineraries that simply cannot handle the mega ships.
I’d love to see some new smaller ships. 

Yeah, I'm selling that thought to my wife as we speak.  The fact that Enchantment has 2 pools will help.
 

i am so sad. Now I have to book more cruises to console myself. Where is my Husband's card?

I am on the last sailing. I Love Grandeur. Lady G was my first cruise ship. I am going to miss her. I have two more sailings with her.

Also just posted from @Matt:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/10/16/grandeur-of-the-seas-leave-royal-caribbean-fleet

According to the post in our Insiders group, it said Enchantment.

From a fellow insider....

All ships have to go in for mandatory maintenance dry dock every 5 years. Not to say that they get a makeover each time, but things like you mentioned would probably be taken care of at the next one as they can be scheduled and are reasonably straightforward to take care of.
Something like the broken jumbotron screen on the pool might even be repairable without a dry dock, depending on the issue. If it's something minor like an electrical connection that degraded, the engineers on board could possibly take care of that once they got the required materials in a port. The only thing that might require it to wait for a dry dock is if the whole panel just wore out or something broke that's in a location the engineers can't get to without moving the panel.

Loving all the feedback here. Thanks everyone! @twangster you knocked it out of the park with your feedback. Exactly the deep dog answers I was hoping for. 
I have always selected cruises based on date availability and itinerary....and I don't see that changing. If I'm destined to always be on a smaller ship....no complaints. 

171 days till Rhapsody of the Seas - April 04, 2020
Looking to book one in Hurricane season of 2021. Bring it, Mother Nature! 

171 days till Rhapsody of the Seas - April 04, 2020
Looking to book one in Hurricane season of 2021. Bring it, Mother Nature! 

Day 1
Embarkation Day!  
We finally made it to embarkation day and thanks to the advice of many we had one of the smoothest experiences ever.  We had rented a car from the Orlando Airport and driven ourselves to KSC and later in the day our hotel and diner with some friends at Grills.
In the morning we loaded our luggage into the rental car, drove to the port and left the luggage with a porter before returning the rental.  We took the rental shuttle back to the port and simple as all that we were done.  Facial recognition got us up to the lounge quickly where between Diamond status, the Key and Priority Embarkation we were amount the first to be called to board.
Our first order of business was to check out the Diamond Club loungswhich we found to be completely empty!






From there we headed down to the Solarium where we relaxed on a cabana style bed.


We then went in search of our lunch which was Chops menu served in the main dining room.
I can see why they do this.  It gives them much more space to handle the luggage drop off as well as get you all the information that goes along with The Key.
We enjoyed our lunch immensely with a complimentary mimosa.
I'm not much for food and menu photos so those will be scarce in this blog.
With lunch completed we headed to our cabin.  As I may have mentioned we managed to get the same aft corner balcony (9690) for both sailings.














The balcony is spacious, although those not on the corner are a more regular shape.  There is some superstructure in the area but I haven't hit my head on it yet....



One other item to note is that this cabin does not have the conventional slider, but rather a hinged door heading to the balcony.

After muster, we headed to up top to catch sail away.  I don't find the scenery from Port Canaveral too compelling so just a few photos here.
Probably the most interesting here is that Mariner had pulled in bow first and so to exit we had to use the turning basin to properly orient the ship.



 

I'd share that I have zero desire to cruise on any of the ships that are like amusement parks on water. I don't want or need water slides or zip lines or any of that. I am probably in the minority but there has to be more than one of me that is okay with just sitting quietly and reading a book while I sip a drink. There has to be more than one of me out there but probably not many so they leave the smaller ships to us folks who actually avoid slides and zip lines and all that. I have nothing against them personally but it's just not what I want when I cruise. I'd like to think they realize there are still a few of us left around. Let me have that illusion.

I agree with what has been said, but I'd like to emphasize two points:  (1) most middle-class travelers are limited by the the nearby ports and the ships that sail from them; (2) the itinerary is more important to me than the ship.   We sailed small ships out of Baltimore because we lived nearby, and it wasn't cost-effective to fly elsewhere.  When we splurged, we tried Europe, which was infinitely more exciting than the Bahamas, and guess what, the ships were small or middle-sized.  None had slides.  My son is now an adult in college and I don't think he missed not being on a ship with a slide over several cruises as a minor.  We have sailed the Oasis and Harmony and enjoy what they offer, but we only sail them because, well, they are there.  We would sail whatever ship is in Port Canaveral because it is easier to drive there than to Baltimore (DC traffic is a killer).   Since my wife now wants to sail the South Pacific, I am hard pressed to book RCI because they don't spend enough time in French Polynesia -- the ships are too large.  So I think there will always be an itinerary-based niche for smaller ships, but I'm glad families can enjoy larger ships when they are conveniently located.

To piggy-back on what Twangster mentioned...I had a really neat conversation with one of the engineers about the propulsion system and how dated it was.

Royal has learned a lot over the years and you can see that evolution in the ships over the years.  However Radiance class is an exception to that.  Radiance was introduced after Voyager  class was close to having grown to 3 ships (Radiance and Adventure both started revenue sailings in 2001). 
At one point in time Voyager class was never to leave the Caribbean as they were too big for the rest of the world.   Radiance class was built to not exceed then Panamax standards and designed to be cleaner or greener for eco sensitive environments such as Alaska.  They were built with different missions in mind, never to co-exist in the same market.  Fast forward to modern times and Voyager class are all over the globe.  
Radiance class has the lowest suite count of any class and we all know Royal has grown to become focused on the suites.  
Earlier ships suffer in that they were built in an era prior to azipods and used conventional propulsion with rudders.  While you can add guest conveniences like slides and restaurants it's virtually impossible to replace entire propulsion systems and engines to newer technology.  Ships are built around the engines.  They are the very first components that ships are built upon.  Once installed they are there for life.  Sure they are rebuilt from time to time but changing out an entire engine or replacing the drive system is never economical.  It's generally cheaper to sell it off and build a new ship.   
The same can be said for cabins.  Moving walls and infrastructure like plumbing and electrical is rarely cost effective.  It's one thing to add new cabins in open space but moving existing or converting regular cabins in to suites is very expensive and counterproductive if it costs two cabins to create a single suite.  The resulting difference in revenue never pays for the work required plus you have reduced the number of guests on board that reduces on board revenue (four guests in two balcony cabins will spend more on board compared to two guests in a one suite). 
Smaller ships also suffer from a lack of real estate.  There can be literally no room to place slides or a restaurant, or the weight allocation can't be accommodated without making the ship unstable.  Water slides require pumps and water storage tanks that if located up high can make a small ship tend to roll over in the right conditions.  The engineering often doesn't allow it to happen despite what guests or Royal may desire.   
At the end of the day it's much like owning an old car.  An old car is old, requires more maintenance, burns more fuel and doesn't have the latest features.  However it's paid for.  A brand new car is more fuel efficient, runs with little maintenance, has better safety, performance and comfort but it involves a monthly payment.   Keeping an older car can save money in the long term if you can deal with more frequent breakdowns and not having the latest features.  

Which I get, and agree with, really. I just wonder what the reason is.....if I were to wager, my money would be on the economic aspect of it.  If they can invest in something that will get a nice return on investment, they will do it. For WHATEVER reason, be it drawing people with a different preference, or not investing money in an older ship thats going to be put out to pasture sooner than later.....theyve determined that NOT adding things to the smaller ships returns more money. Perhaps the people that want those things are then forced to the bigger ships, where they are able to put in multiple attractions and get into peoples pockets more?  Because im surely going to spend more money with my kids in tow, than if it were just me and my wife. So, draw the families to the ships with the family items, and watch the money pile up. Let the people cruising without kids, and dont care about slides and stuff, go on the smaller ships? Im probably giving this way too much thought, but its what I do...... 

I think this thread has a pretty good handle on the relevant business aspects.  I mean, if it's not broke don't fix it.  If those small ships are still selling well (and they are) then RC will keep them around.  In a way they offer a lot of great cruising to the brand new cruisers (a simple three night to key west and the bahamas) as well as the older, maybe more affluent experienced cruise who wants exotic, remote ports for a 12 nighter.  After having been on symphony during peak spring break, I would be very ready to be on a small ship adults only cruise.  The number of people and kids was evident everywhere around you, 24/7 nonstop, but that's why we and a lot of family groups like us pick those ships, so we all can do our own thing in whichever way we choose.
If anything, that's Royal's only weakness.  Trying to be too many things, trying to be everything to everyone, which of course is impossible.  Hence, the variety of the fleet.  To me, the sweet spot for amenities and space is still the voyager class, looking very forward to seeing the amped navigator, would like to try the quantum.  The smaller ships have very loyal followings, they are free to visit a lot of smaller islands and more secluded ports, do long or odd itineraries that clearly the market will not bear for the big ships where most families are still led by working age folks and can't or don't want to take 12 days off.  I see a ton of value in being on a small ship where a higher level of service is easier to maintain consistently and you're with like minded cruisers.  Some would say family friendly is RC's strong suit, some would say they prefer not to be around the kids gone wild all day everyday and with this fleet, you can find what you like.

Once you get smaller than Voyager Class, you're into basically boutique / exotic sailings that are much more port intensive and not as many sea days. Those itineraries are also less geared towards families with young kids, so I can see where investing in water slides, rock climbing walls, Flow Riders, etc. becomes less "worth it" (although you certainly see some of these features on the smaller ships; even Empress has a rock climbing wall now). Specialty restaurants, on the other hand, make a lot of sense on these smaller ships for added dining variety and ways to break up the "routine" for the passengers who may not want to eat in the MDR or WJ every night, and have a chance to jazz things up a little.
A few of us here have noted the strong similarities in size, capacity, features, etc. of the Radiance class ships with Celebrity's Millennium class ships. Lately it seems even the itinerary pricing is strikingly similar. It's made me wonder if at some point Royal would move the Radiance class over to X to help expand the fleet there while the Royal fleet is growing on the bigger end of the scale; X's fleet is entirely "smaller" ships, even the Edge class holds fewer passengers than a Voyager class ship, so moving the Radiance ships to X would open up new itineraries and give the line's passengers what several consider a really beautiful and well-designed ship class.
I doubt it would happen, only because the Radiance class ships are all around 20 years old now (about the same as the Millennium ships). But if Royal did do something like that, they'd have to refurb the ships to be in line with X's style and decor, so not much point in revamping them with stuff from a Royal Amplification playbook.

They have added stuff other then specialty restaurants to the smaller ships over the year just not on the same scale as the Amplification Program.  Most of the smaller ships have had kids splash pads installed, rock walls were added.  The most significant renovation to a smaller ship was when they cut Enchantment in half and lengthened her.  That added an additional pool and pool bar, more shops, Boleros and obviously more cabins.  At some point they also added the trampoline thing to the front of the ship (not that it ever seemed to be open when I was on in 2015).
All that said, I don't think you will see any big changes anymore.  The ships are paid for, just keep them in good shape and make the money.