steverk

Tried to book through the app. No joy there either. It allows me to see the packages for the specific cruise, but then tells me the time selected doesn't have enough space. I'm still wondering how it knows what time I plan to order my drinks!

Is anyone else having trouble with the website? I log in to the cruise planner, click on the cruise and it prompts me for my username and password. I enter it and it puts back on the page to select a cruise.

Usually, the upcharge isn't quite that bad but I've actually seen it far worse. If you want a refundable deposit, talk to your travel agent about a group rate. That often works out

Since nobody here has access to Royal's internal decision process, all we can do is guess how much they worry about Virgin Voyages. With that in mind, my thoughts are Royal doesn't really pursue the Panama Canal market. They reposition through the canal, but that's not the same thing. What other lines do is really irrelevant. Therefore, Royal will have to balance the economy of scale that can be achieved by going larger than new Panamax vs. The operational flexibility they get by being new Panamax class.

I hope you realize that you don't get the drink vouchers while sailing on Celebrity.

I completely agree! There used to be even more, but Celebrity has been redeploying more ships to the Caribbean. We shall see what, if anything, comes of these rumors.

I agree with most of what you say. Bigger ships are Royal's focus and probably their future. However, there is one big reason why the size mentioned today is likely in the cards. That is the Panama Canal. Royal has been repositioning the radiance class ships through the canal as the Alaska season begins and ends. If they want to continue to do that, then there's a very strict size limit. If they decide that isn't really important then discovery either gets cancelled or grows to 300,000 tons.

Assuming they're careful with the dimensions, it should be able to go through the new panama canal locks. I doubt Tampa will be possible. Idk about Baltimore. Europe is going to depend on the port.

I just left the Captain's Corner and asked about Project Discovery. I was surprised when the Captain deferred to the hotel director for an answer, but the answer was interesting. 1. There was a large brainstorming meeting held in January. It included hotel directors, Captains and cruise directors. He stopped short of saying he attended, but it is my impression that he did. 2. The ship being discussed would be a little smaller than Voyager class. "About 120 to 130 thousand tons" 3. We should expect to be sailing on this class in 2029. Based on this, I am even more convinced there will be some kind of announcement before the end of 2024.

I want to encourage everyone to step back and take a deep breath. Speculating is fun but doesn't really change anything. Regardless of what each of us thinks or wants, Royal is going to do what Royal is going to do. Please don't let your emotions run too wild!

All I can do is guess. But hey, here goes! My bet is that the program is combined in name and in levels. However, the exact benefits will differ based on which line you are sailing. The points to reach each level will be increased, but all of your existing points with either line will be recalculated, giving many a higher number of points. Even if you fall below the threshold for your current level, you'll stay at that level anyway. The tricky part is how to make the points consistent across the 2 lines. Royal rewards getting on the ship. Celebrity rewards booking a suite. IDK how they'll address this problem

All I can do is guess. But hey, here goes! My bet is that the program is combined in name and in levels. However, the exact benefits will differ based on which line you are sailing. The points to reach each level will be increased, but all of your existing points with either line will be recalculated, giving many a higher number of points. Even if you fall below the threshold for your current level, you'll stay at that level anyway. The tricky part is how to make the points consistent across the 2 lines. Royal rewards getting on the ship. Celebrity rewards booking a suite. IDK how they'll address this problem

I'd say you have decent odds. I've done GTY a few times and I've always been pleased with my cabin.

My earlier post was speculating that they will announce it in about 2 months. I'd expect it to take effect immediately after the announcement. We'll know soon enough if I'm prescient or just a old fool with a big mouth!

Any objective, numeric measure can be misleading. So much of the feeling that a ship gives is subjective that no measure will be perfect. Regardless, a ship that has a low passenger to crew ratio and a high gross tonnage per passenger is likely to feel much more spacious and relaxing than one with the opposite metrics.

It's not exactly on point, but cruisedeckplans.com has plans for old ships posted. They also have an email on their contacts page. Perhaps you could email them?

I think this might be part of the reason RCG has hinted they'll combine the celebrity and RCI loyalty programs. If they can get the old timers to graduate to Celebrity, that will leave RCI to concentrate on families and younger people.

Has anyone heard any more about this? It's nothing more than speculation, but the RCI an Celebrity president cruises are at the same time in June. It strikes me as the time for an announcement.

Different strokes for different folks. I too prefer "smaller" ships. For me that's Freedom or Voyager class. For you it might be something different. As far as how crowded a ship feels depends on a lot of things. Cruzely.com used to have a ranking of gross tons per passenger. Since gross tonnage is a measure of volume, this gives some idea of how spacious the ship will feel. Carnival was among the worst on that measure. But tonnage per passenger isn't the only thing. More nebulous stuff like how well people are distributed and how well traffic flows are also important.

I don't think it is refundable. However, you can transfer it to a slot machine in the casino and then cash out.

One thing to keep in mind is that Oasis class ships are inward focused. That means you don't see much of the ocean unless you have an ocean view room. For that reason I always book ocean view balconies on Oasis class ships. I'm more flexible on other ships though.

Wow. That hasn't been my experience. I've sailed out of there twice and I have never seen them check the time

Call your travel agent. Ask if they have a group rate for this cruise. If they do, book it now at the group rate! If not, I'd still book it.

I never try to justify the cost. That sounds harsh, but there really isn't any way to justify it the same way you might justify a car repair for example. I look at the cost and decide if I can afford it and if I want to go. Unfortunately, all travel us now outrageous. Therefore, choosing a different type of vacation never reaches the savings I anticipate.

I think they were already released. There probably isn't anything going to Greenland. That was a very rare itinerary.