mac66

Thanks, that's good to know.

We did a 12 night on the Equinox in March of this year. Did an 11 day on her back in 2017. Was impressed with her back in '17. Not so much this time even though we were Elite this time. The entertainment and activities were bland and so was the food. The service was nothing special like it was the first time. They also seemed to be short staffed. So it may have been they were just getting going again after covid. That was our first cruise since before the Covid thing. We sailed on the Oasis twice, the last time in December of 2021 with our adult children (pre Christmas cruises in Dec tend to be cheaper and less crowded). Frankly we were looking for something to do on the Equinox, not so on the Oasis what with the Board walk, central park etc, etc. We've been on X three times this year. The cruises were excellent, the ships mediocre. The other two cruises were on the Summit. The second Summit 12 night cruise was no better than the first. We wouldn't have picked the Summit the second time but for the itinerary which we booked 2 years before. Going back to Royal next year, though neither booked cruise are on an Oasis class due to the itinerary. If we want bland, we'll sail on a cheap non Oasis class Royal cruise. (which is what we are doing in early Dec of this year and Feb of next) To us it's all about the itinerary and the cost. If we find a good itinerary at a good price...we're gone. No such thing as a bad cruise. Bottom line...try Equinox to see how you like it. Every cruise is different based on time of year, length, itinerary, cabin, etc, etc.

I suppose it depends somewhat on the circumstances. We sailed one time and they lost our luggage. We went to dinner that night in shorts and a t-shirt. Our luggage was lost for 3 days until it finally showed up. We switched between stuff in our carry-ons but went to the Oceanview cafe the next two nights.

The Equinox is/was a good ship. Been on it a number of times. The last time this past April but was not impressed this time. Haven't tried the Edge class, not sure the added cost is worth it, but that's just me. Did two cruises on the Summit this year as well. Not impressed either time but they had the itinerary we were looking for. Based on those three cruises I will say that I believe Celebrity is neglecting some of the lower class ships in favor of the Edge class so there's that.

Don't know about the Luminae dining room but we saw no difference in dress in the MDR between Royal and X. People wear what they want to on both. There is no real dress code on either anymore. We had dinner one of the specialty dining rooms to celebrate a wedding anniversary. The middle aged guy at the next table was in shorts, t-shirt and flip flops.

I started cruising in 1979 and have been on most of the cruise lines. Cruising (and society) has changed A LOT over the years. All I can say now is that every cruise is different depending on time of year, itinerary, ship, cabin, crew, length, departure point. Some are good, some are better, some are just okay but they are all different.

Regards of sales, we've found the cheapest cruises are between Thanksgiving and Christmas and after the holidays, from January to about mid Feb. Just booked an 8 night that leaves the Sat after Thanksgiving. With travel agent loyalty perks and refundable OBC from RCI and our travel agent it comes to less than $100/night for the two of us in an ocean view cabin. Hey, it's a cheap getaway We also have a first week of Feb 7 night cruise booked for just over $100 night. Also ocean view which in both cases was only $25 more than an inside. We like insides but a window is nice for the price. Those prices includes all fees and taxes but not transportation costs or parking. We are driving to Florida on both occasions.

First sailed in 1979 on NCL. Sailed first on Royal in '94. We've also sailed Carnival a couple times and a few more times on NCL and our first Celebrity (X) in 2013. We liked Royal with the kids but liked X more with just the two us. The Oasis class ships opened up Royal again and as we got close to Diamond in points we stuck with them. After getting Diamond we pretty much went back to X. Except we've done a few more Royals with our grown up kids which was fun. We did three X cruises this year primarily because Royal didn't do those itineraries, but X has become so expensive and the food and service on each of those X cruises were so bad that we've booked two cheap Royal cruises in the next 6 months. I doubt if we'll get D+ anytime soon but maybe if we stick with Royal we'll make it someday. And.... Royal stock prices were down this summer so it was a good time to buy stock to get that benefit on both RCI and X.

On the other hand, booking a flight late in the afternoon on disembarking day is excruciating. Better to get the earliest time you can get to the airport and get through security. Staying over another day? No thanks. When I'm done cruising I just want to get home.

Yeah all four of them. Nothing physically prevents you from sharing your DP drinks, just need to be discrete. Besides, who's going to know if the drinks you share are diamond drinks or drink package drinks? They aren't labeled.

We've did the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins through Native tours twice and Maya Chan once. The ruins were very good though a long bus ride. Maya Chan has great food and is very relaxing. If all you want to do is eat, drink and lay around Maya Chan is your place. The beach is covered in seaweed. Swimming and snorkeling were marginal. Absolutely nothing to see in the water.

I've looked at the key, currently $26.50/day/person = $371 for the week for my next cruise. Wi-fi is about $20/day for one device which can be shared i.e, $140/week. We don't need wi-fi since our next cruise is port intensive and we can connect in port, besides I go on a cruise to disconnect. We're diamonds so there is some overlap in perks. Never had a problem getting good seats at the shows, the first day Chops lunch is a nice perk but you can buy the lunch a lot cheaper than $26/day. Can't remember the last time we tendered at a port on a RCL ship. You can check any luggage including carry ons at the curb to be taken to your cabin, just put a luggage tag on them and they will be delivered. Makes it easy to walk off the ship at the end as well. Don't really do the climbing wall or flow rider anymore but if I did, for the limited private hours available it's not worth it. Never had a problem getting a 11:30 am check in time. And have noticed that's when everybody shows up anyway. We prefer a 2 or 2:30 check in time when there is no one/lines. Everyone has to weigh the cost vs. the value you get. It's not worth it to us when you consider what you get for the money. Your mileage may vary.

Thanks, I lost about half of that before I cashed out so at least I got some points.

At various times we've brought 2 bottles of wine on board, our travel agent sent a bottle and we won a bottle in a drawing on board. We asked for glasses, cork screw and ice to chill the wine. We walked around the ship at various times with the bottle and glasses in hand. We took a bottle to the dining room on numerous occasions and were never charged a fee. No one knows whether the wine came from the ship or not, they don't care.

I actually like the ice tea on the ships. Occasionally I will add a dash of lemonade to my iced tea if they are out of lemon slices at the counter. I don't put enough lemonade to make an Arnold Palmer which is half and half, just enough to add a bit of lemon or more if the tea isn't very good that day.

So i was just on a cruise where I put $100 of on board credit from my sea pass into a slot machine. I played for awhile but was unaware of the rewards program. Looking at it now it says you get 1 point for every $5 you play and you just swipe your card at the machine to join. Does that mean I earned 25 points?

My only experience in the DL was before we made diamond and were invited in by a couple we met who were diamonds. This was before vouchers and no one checked to see if we were actually diamonds. We had unlimited drinks with our friends the whole cruise in the DL during happy hour. It's one of the reasons why we went for diamond so it wasn't exactly a free ride. Been on 4 cruises since we made diamond, never used the DL during the day and it was usually so crowded during happy hour that we went somewhere else. Our next Royal cruise is in Feb '23 so we'll see what happens.

We've done three X cruises and 1 RCL cruise in the last year. The X cruises this year were on the Summit twice and the Equinox. The Royal cruise in December was on the Oasis. Previous X cruises were on the Equinox and Constellation. Previous RCL were the Explorer, Freedom (twice), Oasis, Allure (twice). Majesty & Empress The first Summit cruise this year was a charter (Rock and Romance cruise in Feb), the food and service were so-so but we had a great time, non stop music. We did the 12 night Equinox in April and the service and food decent and what we expected from X based on past experience. A Just got off the Summit, a 12 night Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia to Boston cruise. Service was slow/bad, food was marginal (i.e overcooked, under cooked and/or cold). Menu's were exactly the same as the February cruise and the April cruise. No variation. Service and food was so bad this time in the MDR that we actually walked out and ate in the Oceanview cafe (OC) 4 times until we finally switched to the 8 pm seating where we actually got waited on. One of the supervisors (maitre d'?) tried to placate us one night with "free" wine (we had a premium drink package). We originally had 6:30 reservations. Overall it was the worse food and service ever on an X cruise. As was pointed out, the OC pretty much has the same food every night regardless of the ship it was hit or miss. Our experience with RCL is that the Windjammer has different theme nights. When we were on Allure once they had a seafood night with mounds of clams, lobster, fish, mussels, crayfish etc. It was the same night as lobster night in the MDR. They didn't have that on the other Allure cruise which was about 6 months later. I think RCL caters more to the Windjammer since more people/families eat there than at the Oceanview on X. There we very few food choices and consequently few people in the OC (at least in the evening) when we were forced to eat there. Our cruise on the Oasis last December was pretty good, food was better than we remembered from prior to covid. We did eat dinner in the Windjammer by choice a couple times just to try it. But to be fair the ship was half full. Tend to get better service and food with fewer people around.. We had wifi and the premium drink package as part of our recent Summit cruise. They were out of many of the high end liquors and beers. Couldn't get half the stuff on their booze and beer list. We had the basic drink package on the Equinox. No drink package on the Oasis last december we're Diamond. Both Summit cruises were in an interior cabin which were fine. We had booked a interior (we don't spend much time in our cabin so interiors work fine for us) on our Equinox cruise but was bumped up to a balcony when they shut down deck 3 which we booked on. We were given a deck 9 balcony, it was very nice. I don't know if it was because of maintenance issues or lack of passengers and they just decided to upgrade us. The ship was half full/empty. Bathroom amenities were basically the same. The Summit and Equinox both had soap/shampoo dispensers in the shower as do the Royal ships. We are back to Royal on the Explorer the end of this November (ocean view) because we found a cheap 8 nighter. And the Serenade, ocean view cabin next Feb simply because we found a cheap 7 day to get out of the cold weather in the north where we live. It will be our first time on a Radiance class ship so that should be interesting. We tend to like the vibe on X and switch between the two based on itinerary. Based on recent trips on X we may end up going back to Royal. Just so much more to do and food choices are greate at least on the Oasis and Freedom class ships although menus are the same between X and RCI. We'll see what the Radiance class has to offer. I don't think there is any doubt that food and service have declined on cruise ships since they began pushing specialty $ dining and suite perks. I also think X is focusing on the Edge class ships and neglecting the lesser classes at least the Millennium class ships. You just aren't going to feel special on a cruise anymore unless you are willing to pay up for it. Having said all that, every cruise is different depending on the ship, time of the year, itinerary and how long you go. You pays your money, you takes your chances and as they say... Your mileage may vary.

As I said, there are ways around any rule or law if one is so inclined.

well, we don't do wi fi, specialty dining, or adventure island. Rarely if ever watch TV, so I could do without those. The rest we do regularly or occasionally.

And like any rule or law, none prevents someone from consuming anything they want. It just prevents it from being served to them.

The policy may have changed in fact if not in word. If someone happens to buy and bring back booze to their cabin from the ships store and/or shore I'd appreciate knowing.

When we last sailed on RCI we bought booze in the store on Thursday (Sun-Sun cruise) and were surprised they let us take it back to our cabin. We didn't have a drink package (we are Diamonds) but opened it and supplemented our Diamond drinks. The first X cruise we did this year we didn't have a drink package and was able to bring booze back from our first port. The second X we had a drink package but brought a couple bottles back. Not really an issue on an upcoming X cruise, we have a drink package but curious about the RCI cruise after that.

When we were on Celebrity in March we bought some booze to bring back at one of the ports. It wasn't confiscated when we went back on board. On a subsequent cruise we bought a bottle in the ships store the second day and was able to take it back to the cabin. Is this change in policy unique to Celebrity or does Royal now allow booze, from port and the store? Our next cruise is on Celebrity but on Royal after that one.

Same in my state. Cheaper on board and often cheaper still in Caribbean ports. The difference in price is usually the taxes, has nothing to do with blue laws. Duty free=no tax. The last cruise I was on I bought two bottles of bourbon for $50. Back home those would cost at least $30/each. When we went ashore, same bottles were $2/bottle cheaper than on board. And not to mention that cruise ships often sell liter bottles instead of 750 ml (fifth) bottles. So you get more for less.