dr martini

i think we need to keep punishing the children (who have the best immune systems of us all) the most. this whole thing is their fault and they can get all these precious developmental phases back, right?

unvaccinated children without a mask will be chased around the ship and rounded up nightly by alternating housekeeping staff (taken out of their current four hours of down time), collected children will be thrown in a large cargo hold where they will remain until the following day or claimed by an immediate family member who has had four doses of pfizer and/or completed a 57 page health survey and waiver form and/or who has a healthy Body Mass Index of 25 or lower.

It’s funny how much this topic gets bandied about and how few people (some do!) just own up to it. Haha i don’t care and I’m not too proud to say I’m a German Irish catholic, I’m not driving the boat and i am going to have some drinks through the day and enjoy it! We have no problem justifying the dbx, esp when so many of the cocktails are $10-$12-$14+ I don’t keep a full bar stocked at home of exotic things I’ll use once every five years, I’m on vacation to try things and splurge! It’s great. Especially after taking princess a few times and having a huge bill at the end. Especially on a cruise with a couple sea days and/or private island stops, Bloody Mary or mimosa or two on the balcony with fruit and toast, coffee or juice, couple bottles of water, then a few beers and cocktails with lunch and through the afternoon, another cocktail or two somewhere before dinner, through dinner, (the dbx discount on wine bottles is also great) then a few more beers or cocktails after dinner and bottles of water again on the way back to the room. Hitting 10-15 chargeable drinks is not hard at all. We’ll be diamond soon, but I’ll still be getting dbx on any cruise with sea days or perfect day stops, maybe in a later life when we can take 14 day and transatlantic type voyages I’ll hold off but until then, i have enjoyed @Matt’s advice, love having it paid for on my card and cleared my account months ago, just another part of the whole puzzle that I’m looking forward to!

the dbx is discussed a lot around here and it's all over the place - we almost need a few different categories now for it when comparing because a lot of numbers get thrown out there but to look at it apples to apples there are different versions the short 3/4 cruises (esp out of miami) have higher cost per day (upper $60's per person per day) because cococay is almost always included, drink package works there and it's easier to drink more for a short period of time for a fun weekend dbx on a 7 night cruise out of the a FL port with three days at sea and a stop at one of the RCL private islands (esp on a newer ship) will be as much as $20 more pp/pd than the lowest pp/pd you see discussed for, say, a 9 night out of san juan with 6 different port stops and no RCL islands so less chances to use it. lastly, the dbx bundled with wifi (not always listed online for sale) or one of the cruise planner sales 'buy one get one half off for your stateroom partner' are what I have found to be the best deal on the past several cruises we've taken. all things being equal, like everything else the dbx is obviously getting more expensive. what really chaps me is that they still upcharge for more and more premium cocktails and drinks all the time (used to be a couple on the menu, now it's almost half the menu some places) on top of the dbx number. with drinks, dining and other activities Royal keeps finding ways to squeeze more juice out of us and it clearly keeps working for them.

@Pooch same! like others i sleep with a fan at home and have the fan type app on my phone but I absolutely love the chill music RC plays on the TV! my wife makes fun of me but i have it on a nice background level whenever we are in the room, first thing in the morning, nap time, to sleep, etc. now i can't remember if it's the current position channel or the other info/ shore excursion type channel but i'm dying for someone smarter than me to record a couple hours of it and put it on youtube. (although maybe then it wouldn't be as special as having to get on the ship to experience.....any excuse to book another right?)

there doesn't seem to be any fleetwide consensus. people are posting numbers from recent cruises so we do have some data points hurts nothing to ask a crew member. my folks were just on oasis last week and she was at 2500 souls (out of 5500 double capacity). the staffers here for the blog post their numbers when they sail and they've been similarly 50-60% of double capacity. my folks and their group had a row of balcony cabins all adjoining on deck 8, booked that way on purpose to open the balcony dividers up for one big communal balcony type space but at the last minute royal mandated an empty cabin between them, spacing them out more and thus stopping the balcony setup. Our TA also mentioned her opinion that lower, interior cabins are not being listed for sale until the ship hits a certain number and/or are being reserved for crew spacing/iso depending on the ship. our spring break cruise on symphony has dozens of suites and hundreds of cabins still available, but we'll see where the dust settles after royal up, other upgrades and last minute bookings, but i certainly don't expect six thousand plus, but we'll see. my folks also said the ship was sorely and obviously short handed in spots, they've never had worse MDR service and walked after the third night of their food being cold and drinks being empty. so maybe plan on more my time dining or specialty dining, which they said was better.

outside of hurricane season in the late summer/fall it's never really quiet on saint thomas. especially on the southern side with the two ports and the downtown, saint thomas is the main hub for about a dozen or more other islands, it has the biggest airport and seaports moving people and supplies for everything you can think of that people need to live. the beaches will be busy, the downtown will be busy, like anywhere else if you wait until noon to get somewhere, it will be more crowded and full than it was at 9am. consider maybe getting off early and then getting back on the ship by 1 or 2 and have the pool deck and slides etc all to yourself? Otherwise look into catamaran or boating type excursions that will take you to saint johns or other islands that can only be reached by boats, they are much, much quieter

you can read more and look around, but i would strongly advise you to NOT take the ferry across from cozumel to playa. 1) it's not a very comfortable ride - it's a narrow channel with a lot of chop most days as cozumel is relatively flat and there is not protection as with other more mountainous islands, it's also notoriously not exactly a military operation with respect to safety and timeliness 2) it's another set of variables with taxis and ferry times and more chances for something to go wrong 3) there is a lot to do and see in cozumel! great snorkeling and diving, a lot of excursions, a nice outdoor market, a bunch of bars and restaurants, some mayan ruins, a couple well reviewed all inclusive type resorts where you can get a day pass, plenty of cool stuff. i would say that if you want to do xcaret and the ruins in tulum and the cave diving in the cenotes and see playa, save it for a land vacation, plenty to do for a week stay in riviera maya.

so many of these stories and press releases and news items like these are all just about the company covering themselves from the Karen's and the media, it's about public perception so as to not hurt the stock price, it's PR from the people at HQ in Miami. who among the staff on the actual cruise ship trying to keep actual customers happy wants to go around telling people to pull their masks up? you could take the position of "most masks are not very effective so why mandate them at all" but you could also say "if Royal was 100% committed and serious about it they would mandate only the more expensive k95 or n95 masks or even supply them to every passenger" but at the end of the day, if this were a real out of control pandemic the ships wouldn't be running. if they didn't have strict 'protocols' in place they would be getting dragged all over social media and in DC and in Tallahassee and they just don't want the noise. my folks are on oasis this week - these rules how it is already, most people are being courteous about it, wearing them in the promenade and elevators, but in bars and restaurants once you get to your seat/table there's not many wearing and no enforcement which is exactly how it was downtown Chicago a couple weeks ago at most bars/restaurants and perfectly fine by me. if people want to wear them, great. they sure can. if people are not sure if they'll feel safe, they don't have to go to restaurants or shows or fly or go on cruises. life is full of risk assessment and everyone is different.

covid hyper fear is over everywhere except in major cities and for major corporations (including the media). says a lot.

@jeffmw agreed on the promenade and disagree in part on the rest. we've been on almost all of the voyager class at different times and i've never been on a cruise ship that felt as busy or as full as symphony was spring break March 2019. a lot of that i'm sure was the spring break of it all, but there were kids running everywhere, top deck was very busy, the usual chair hogs were in full force, lots of tweens in the solarium day and night, elevators always busy, many onboard attractions booked up before we had the chance to see or book, it was wild. felt every one of the 6000+ folks onboard. the only place that didn't feel crazy was thankfully PDCC, vibe was very relaxing there.

just saw the front page article stating that wonder will have 100 more staterooms than symphony! wow. is that spread across decks or what other significant changes did they make to get those fit?

pricing for deluxe bev package with wifi one device for our march cruise on symphony is cheaper per day than my Feb 2020 four day was on navigator (71 per day Symphony vs 86 on Navigator) so that's a pretty good deal. Those Florida four day prices for that package are notoriously high, I'm aware. Easier to guzzle away for four days with really just one true port day than for 7+ but I like the challenge.

New email from Royal this morning and (!!!).....................it's not a test cruise invite.

in the US, sure, but that's a political football type item that changes very often. but for corps based in liberia? or the bahamas? my point is we don't know and it doesn't really matter because they're burning huge amounts of borrowed cash anyway and taxes are literally at the bottom of their list of concerns right now, buried down at the bottom of the deep blue sea? (I know I know, sorry)

I think that’s got to be it, this accomplishes a few simple things. A chance to stir up the news cycle and send out the reminders that we’re seeing to the people who had already signed up. Clearly, the previous setup wasn’t perfect and they learned from it, the past outings seemed to reward those highest in RC status, media, influencers etc. Maybe the response rate from the average customer was way below what RC expected? I’m sure they learned a lot from their interactions with those who both did and did not take the first test cruises. Maybe the most notable thing about this promo to me is the short fuse on the entering/selecting - this helps narrow the field to people who are fully vaccinated and ready to go right now, today (the first ship sails Wednesday!) and willing to go out and live as normal as possible in the world as it exists right now today (no politics but clearly many people are still not, regardless what they thought at the time of filling out the first test cruise volunteer form online). All that and then giving the dates and sail locations should help further target people who are reasonably likely to be able to go. People who love RC, who are ready to travel, who have flexible work schedules or are retired, who live in Florida, greater NY area, in TX, these are big population areas.....or if not driving then ultimately those who can/will drop $500+ Per person on last minute airline tickets and/or have the miles/status to do so etc etc etc.

@LizzyBee23 by write off you mean for taxes? In a general sense here in the states, yes, most marketing campaigns and giveaways are done by companies for the good will and publicity they generate and can be accounted for as plain old operating expenses, marketing & promotion etc.....but in another sense, no - without entering the realm of pure speculation we do know that there are many corps and entities that exist within the behemoth that is Royal Caribbean Group and many of those are not registered in the US for tax and regulation purposes, they're in many of the banana republics and Liberia's of the world which have very little to no taxation or regulation, so who knows what they can or can't write off exactly. At the end of the day; a company that doesn't post any profits doesn't have to worry about paying any taxes, and for Royal....shall we say nicely, that won't be a problem this year. There's a good post on the main page of the most recent wall street earnings call, but the past year and half they've been spending a lot of money to keep ships out there afloat and ready and are now spending even more to get them loaded full of supplies, fuel, food and provisions to say nothing of taking on full crews who also need to be paid while getting trained and ready, all of this before passengers and their dollars return. Royal Caribbean Group reports $1.3 billion loss second quarter 2021

@Matt is correct here - it takes me back to the old law school days but there is a distinct difference between a sweepstakes and a raffle but regardless, there's always a lot of legal work that goes into any big company doing a giveaway of any kind. I signed up, there was a lot of boilerplate, running anything nationwide runs into a lot of issues with varying state regulation but I thought this was a good idea, as I did when we discussed the initial volunteering a while back. Gives Royal a lot of free advertising across social media, the travel industry outlets give them various write ups, and the all important actual word of mouth. Gives RC more data on potential customers, we get excited about cruising even more and some of us will even get to go. Makes sense to me. Like others have said the last minute nature of the travel/airfare etc was probably keeping a lot of folks out of the individual invites, this way folks get three options depending on their schedule and where they live - win/win in my book. Like everything else the last year and a half, learning as we go....

Another very happy customer with the Saint Kitts blue water safari catamaran ride with snorkeling and lunch/drinks provided. We had a group of a dozen aged 22 to 60 on spring break cruise in 2019 and had a blast. https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g147374-d11457277-St_Kitts_Deluxe_Catamaran_Snorkeling_Tour_With_Lunch-St_Kitts_St_Kitts_and_Nevis.html

Voyager of the seas in March 2002, western Caribbean as a high schooler. it was spring break while she was the largest ship in the world at the time and we stayed in promenade view interiors, just loved absolutely everything about it. what a rush. my grandparents had a thing for taking the aunts and uncles on the 'largest ship in the world' at the time, we heard stories as kids about a few trips they took on Sovereign of the seas and the great times had. the grandkids were 'finally' included on the Grand Princess a couple years prior (first time us kids got included) and the same group did Explorer of the Seas a couple years after when she debuted and slightly edged voyager. I still remember being absolutely blown away by the Royal Promenade, skating rink, sheer number of public spaces and dining/bar options and things to do. it was a teenager's perspective of course, but i remember vividly all of the differences from the fancy, traditional Princess vibe and the fun bombastic Royal experience. now i certainly can appreciate both and would try princess again in the right circumstances. I'm no psychologist but the experiences and memories aboard have to be wayyyyy up there in terms of why the Voyager class is still my favorite, the best balance of service, amenities and options with a solid connection to the ocean without the huge crowds and feeling like being stuck inside the mall of america that can happen on other ships. Royal built themselves into what they are today with the Voyager/Freedom class. (in today's terms would we be calling the freedom class Voyager ultra?)

it's just money, you can always make more of it!

Wow. Working with the general public in restaurants and food service, human error would tell you that we have just as many under charges as over charges across thousands of transactions every day which are admittedly much smaller and less important than booking a suite on a cruise ship. But still, I can count on one hand the number of people who have come to me in 20+ years to fix a pricing mistake that favored them, the customer.

Thanks for the post, and absolutely agree with above the most likely explanation would be to use the downtime to get her regular inspections and routine maintenance work done now. Otherwise Royal would be looking at a timeline where cruises come back online later this year or early next out of the US only then to send their largest, newest ship serving US passengers out of service and into dry dock later in 2022 when demand is crazy high and they need to be making money. Much better to get it all done now. As for COVID/ventilation changes or upgrades, she's a brand new ship compared to the rest of the cruising world and Royal has some great info right off the homepage about how often air is circulated around the ship, hard to imagine much would need to change there but who knows. IMO royal could do more to tell that story about fresh air and, indeed, fresh sea air being one of nature's best remedies. Fresh sea air and salt water have been a prescribed aid for people with a variety of conditions for as long as we humans have been trying to understand and take care of ourselves. Now it's just much a mental illness remedy as well, at least for me haha https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/10/14/how-royal-caribbean-will-circulate-air-its-cruise-ships-protect-against-coronavirus and

Yea I was going to mention two things, Royal Up which Twangster has covered here and also mention travel agent/other group blocks. Basically Royal is overselling certain categories (ocean view/ocean view balcony GTY) the folks who purchased will be offered upgrade opportunities to bid for a Royal Up! into a junior suite for example and the bids work themselves through Royal's algorithm until things even out and everyone has a room. I remember this discussion from a few other threads, thanks for keeping track of our experiences @Curt From Canada!! Seems that less and less often are these upgrades are just given to priority or status heavy members, but instead must be paid for/bid on. For all we love about RC we all know the experience is more and more about the approach some call nickel and diming, Royal would call up selling additional revenue from you after you've booked the cruise. If it wasn't working they wouldn't keep at it, must be fairly effective. So as mentioned, the other thing I've learned is that there are almost always blocks of rooms that we cannot see booking directly through Royal's website. Travel agents (and maybe Casino Royale or other programs too?) have blocks on most sailings that are released back to Royal if they aren't sold by a certain date ? - that's probably in this same 2-3 week window when most assignments happen. So that's a big +1 for using an established TA as well. I have booked GTY before when traveling with just my wife, I probably won't again, the savings weren't that great on our cruise but like everything your mileage may vary. I had been doing the research for next year with a larger group of family - looking for 6 rooms close to each other (in a row, across the hall, etc) and there was nothing across any sailing I could find for Feb or March 2022 sailing out of FL, then called a TA we had used for this group in the past, she found several options for blocks we could choose from across different floors of different ships on the main cruise we had settled on and also on different cruises. We were originally on floor 14 all six cabins together, but then moved down to 9 to be on central park and more mid ship etc etc. We had options. So the rooms are out there, it's just about which route you want to use to find them (and how much you do or don't want to be staying near the people you're traveling with haha)

I grew up boating on the Mississippi and lakes around the midwest, that ferry ride is one of the least comfortable boating experiences I've ever been through. Won't do it again. We have stayed in Playa del carmen at an all inclusive and rented a home down near tulum several times and we also love to cruise, in my opinion it's best to just pick one or the other and enjoy what you're doing in the moment and don't try to mash too many things together. These Cozumel ferry trips usually combined with other bus trips inland would be one of those examples. Too much 'planes trains and automobiles' haha. Plenty to do on the ship and in/around cozumel, world class snorkeling and wall diving and shopping and bars and restaurants. If you want to do an all inclusive someday in Cancun or Playa, great, do that too. But taking the ferry ride and then a bus ride somewhere and back all in four hours cannot be enjoyable, especially if I'm in vacation mode and trying to enjoy my day. Just my two cents.