Eaglelover

I bought 100!  Just a little humor here, so next time I step on a RCCL ship, it will feel like I own a part of it!!   LOL 
 
I hope everyone is doing Well!  Hang In there!

@coneyraven @ChessE4  it’s at $22.33. 

I bought a bit higher, but and have lost some $ but I bought some air stock after 911 and did OK.  My lesson learned is that I waited too long back then after the rebound and lost some profit in the long term.  I have a fair amount of confidence in RCL because of both their history and their clientele....

Same here - we were sailing 5/15. I'm less concerned about the cruise since the  credit is good til 12/31/2021 and we could just do next May. Where I may get burnt is on airfare. I have $3K in airfare invested with American Airlines on 4 tickets (wife and I and 2 kids). Right now they are giving free changes but you must start trip  by 12/31/2020 and I think it will be 4 tickets so I don't get a $3K lump to use how I want.
SO, what does one do with (4) $750 airfares and $6k in FCC?
As for FCC - do I get a lump? Or is it by cruiser like the airfare?
Funny thing is, 28 years ago my house was being foreclosed on. Now I'm in a situation where I need to figure out how to use $9K in vacation cash. I am truly blessed!
I truly feel like a heel asking this during sicce trying times but at least its a distraction....
 

I have 101 shares as of March 6th LOL. I believe RCL can weather this storm and come out on top. It may take years to get back to the price I paid for the stock, but I am in it for the long haul. I think the OBC is a nice benefit as well as this stock historically paying you Dividends. I have read about some people not getting the OBC because their cruise was already deeply discounted. I am sure some of the Senior members of this board can enlighten us further.

I just bought some RCL stock at $28 a share...Coronavirus is just a short-term blip creating a terrific price point for long-term investors to build a position.

You can catch a few on some of these webcams  https://www.portmiamiwebcam.com/
Use the drop down menu near the top to change ports.  They are all Florida/Caribbean ports though.

Something to keep in mind.  A cruise ship cannot “make” fresh water unless it is underway.  I’m sure they probably all have plenty of water, for now, but if they need to make fresh water, they will have to sail around.  So chances are these ships are going to have to move about, from time-to-time in order to make fresh water and reprovision.  It’ll be an interesting ballet to watch.

I second that...and give Kelley at MEI a WOO, WOO, WOOOOOOOO for getting us a no cost upgrade today. I honestly feel kinda guilty for asking her to check on that when I know she's just flooded with work. This will be me in my new room:

Thank you to all of you for your kind words.  It seems in the TA world every year or two there is something that comes around such as this that shows people why they might not want to book direct - - the hold on the phone line or busy signal!  HAHA    While we are busy, it is you the client that we do this for because we love it.  Because many of us at MEI have been doing this for so long, we have lots of experience at holding on the phone, placing holds for new bookings online, chatting with another agent in the agency to either vent (so we don't toss the computer or phone out the window) , and we can order a pizza for dinner because we assume we will be on the phone til after dinner!  ???
 

who are working especially hard during this Covidilemma - waiting on hold with the cruise companies (ALL of them!), rebooking, refunding, repricing, upgrading - WHATEVER.  I imagine they are all putting in LOTS of extra hours to help their clients.  (We're looking at you, M.E.I. folks, but also so many more of the great ones out there!).
We appreciate you!

This may be the greatest cruise tip in the history of cruise tips.

As I don't care for the room service coffee, and in fact, prefer iced coffee in the summertime/or cruising in warm weather areas, I get my iced latte (courtesy of the Deluxe drink package) the night before, stick it in the little fridge, then order pastries & toast to start the morning -- and hope DH gets up for the door :)

Continental breakfast appetizers are the best part of a balcony room! leisurely enjoying a cup of coffee still in my PJs on the balcony - the very definition of vacation!

Remember that continental breakfast through room service is free. Its a great way to grab a quick breakfast or as we like to do, have some fruit, coffee and such delivered earlier in the morning to have as you get ready for the day, even if we are planning a later breakfast, we often get something early to start the day. We like to think of this as breakfast "appetizers."
Happy cruising!

Yes, I think RCCL have created a monster that they cannot feed. The number Diamond and Diamond Plus members is increasing dramatically every year. I think RCCL should introduce a new Crown & Anchor loyalty level at, say, 350 points. Access to the Concierge lounge could be awarded from that level. By the way, I am Diamond Plus with 262 points so I am not suggesting this to benefit myself, but merely suggesting the change as way to address the problem of the overcrowded lounges. The Diamond lounge could then be restricted to Diamond Plus members with less than 350 points. Diamond members would receive the normal 3 free drinks on their sea pass each night.
Only my opinion. Hope I don’t upset anybody.

I received this email from the Crown and Anchor Team  on this past Friday for my up coming cruise on Adventure next Sunday January 13th.  
Crown & Anchor Lounge Update.pdf

Welcome to the message boards.
With growing numbers this really should come as no surprise as the current venues are simply not big enough to contain the numbers involved.  
On my current cruise I have been restricted from the Concierge Lounge.  I understand all too well what you mean however of 272 Emerald, 86 are moving to Diamond for their next cruise and of 598 Diamond, 35 are moving to Diamond Plus.  The CL only seats ~50 guests yet now there would be 35 new D+ competing for CL seats on their next cruise absent of any restrictions.  This is one ship graduating 35 people to D+.  Across the fleet there are hundreds that will be graduating to D+ this month and hundreds next month.  
They simply can't continue in this fashion without changing some rules which is well within their rights to do so.  It's printed in the CAS terms and conditions that they can make changes without notice any time they need to.  
I've been facing this since first earning D+ thirty two cruises ago.  What Royal has done on all of my cruises is expand or overflow the Diamond Lounge to include more room.  To be honest and fair this has worked quite well on all thirty two D+ cruises.    
On a recent cruise through the Panama Canal the CL was off limits to D+ but they used the entire Some Enchanted Evening Lounge on Vision for the nightly happy hour.  This worked out really well and even many of the 86 Pinnacles ended up coming to happy hour there instead of the CL.  
Pinnacle numbers are also growing, 5 guests on this sailing graduated to Pinnacle.
The simple truth is that the numbers have grown to the point they need to make changes. 
So while I have been impacted by this change many times I also understand it is a needed change given the numbers of guests ascending up the CAS top tier levels.

Time wise, Royal's cancellation policy seems a lot more generous since the cut off to move your cruise with Carnival is March 31 and only good for sailings through the end of May. I'm okay with no OBC for peace of mind closer to my sailing. It's not like they are offering a whole lot of OBC anyway.

Perhaps try Giovanni's for one night. Their Eggplant Parmesan IS. THE. BOMB! Having done ROS southbound this past July (2019), I would either do a 3 Night Dining (to get Izumi in the mix) or just one night in Giovanni's. And, I agree, the WJ is great, too. Having the UDP on ROS was too much. Don't bother with Samba. Meh to blah.
We are going back to Alaska on Serenade of the Seas July 2021 and this is the strategy we will take next time. 3 Night Dining Package + Windjammer.

Hello All,
 
I wanted to see if we could commence a running Cruise Director and Activities Manager list here on the Royal Caribbean Blog Boards.   As many of you know, the Cruise Director can be very influential in providing a fun and interactive experience while on a cruise and for this reason the question is often asked "who will be the cruise director on my sailing?" However, as with any position of importance, the Cruise Director also enlists the assistance of his or her Activities Manager to host a number of events throughout a sailing (e.g. trivia, bingo, karaoke, etc...).  Therefore, I would also like to keep the list updated with the current Activities Managers whom many of us develop strong relationships with based on our varying degrees of participation in ship events. 
 
While I know there are similar lists maintained elsewhere on the internet, my desire is to provide an easily accessed (thanks in part to the long-term edit function of these boards) and more user friendly document than what currently exists.  In addition to receiving regular updates from the fantastic blog community that fill these boards with Royal Caribbean knowledge everyday, I also hope to leverage Kat's evergrowing Periscope community to obtain real time and accurate updates as to who holds these very important positions throughout the Royal Caribbean fleet.   Below is my first stab at a draft of the list based on information I was able to retrieve from various social media and online content.  As you can see, there are some blanks, which I am sure many of you will be able to assist with filling in.  Please feel free to respond here with any list updates or any comments as to the format or layout of the document.
 
I would like to thank all of you in advance for any assistance you can provide with making this list a useful resource for Royal Caribbean cruisers.
 

We most often just do the Main Dining Room.  We like the variety. And the quality of the food is very good in our opinion! There is an Italian night each week that is very good. Also, the Windjammer oftentimes has eggplant with the cheeses and marinara sauce close by.

I find it more about atmosphere -- the food at the MDR is usually good and the service is great but  it can feel a little busy and loud at times- depends a lot on where you are seated. A dinner at one of the other specialty restaurants is more date-like. When I cruise with my sister we always end the cruise with lunch at Chops.  It's a relaxing last sea day.

If you don't think you'll want to go to a specialty restaurant every night, go for a 3 night dining plan so you can alternate with the MDR.