cruisellama

You have NO idea how much I need this thread today. 

I know 25 letters of the alphabet and I don't know Why.. 

Did you know diarrhea is hereditary?
It runs through your genes lol 
 

Why must you knock before opening the refrigerator door ?
 
Because you wouldn’t want to catch the salad, dressing.
 
ba-dump-bump

So my new political party is TROPICAL!
(how topical ?)

As far as I know, this is still permitted 

03:11 PM EDT, 07/06/2020 (MT Newswires) -- Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) said Monday it plans to resume sailing operations on Sept. 16.
However, some of its ships and sailings will have an extended suspension. Canada and Bermuda sailings will be suspended through Oct. 31, and Voyager of the Seas sailings through Sept. 30. Odyssey of the Seas sailings from Nov. 5 through April 17, 2021, will also be canceled.
Separately, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) collaborated in developing improved cruise health and safety standards by creating a group of experts called the Healthy Sail Panel in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The panel will release its initial recommendations by August-end after starting work almost a month ago.

We were on the last Liberty of the Seas sailing prior to the shutdown (8-15 Mar).   The ship was being kept sanitized well.  Plus there was the best adherence of hand washing and sanitizing by the guests that I've seen.   We were with a large party and everyone noticed there wasn't the common hacking you hear in lines or in the theater.  Also spoke with one of the crew working Johnny Rockets and he told me about all the extra precautions they were taking in food services.  He also noted they should be following the new procedures all the time because he noted the crew was in very good shape also.  Less sickness since they implemented the protocols.

We were on the last Liberty of the Seas sailing prior to the shutdown (8-15 Mar).   The ship was being kept sanitized well.  Plus there was the best adherence of hand washing and sanitizing by the guests that I've seen.   We were with a large party and everyone noticed there wasn't the common hacking you hear in lines or in the theater.  Also spoke with one of the crew working Johnny Rockets and he told me about all the extra precautions they were taking in food services.  He also noted they should be following the new procedures all the time because he noted the crew was in very good shape also.  Less sickness since they implemented the protocols.

WOULD YOU CRUISE AGAIN IF: 
  A. Face masks are required in all public areas:  14.3% Yes      80% No        5.7% Maybe
  B. Face masks are required only at shows and large gatherings including embarkation:   33.3% Yes          36.1% No          30.5% Maybe
  C. Face masks are not required but 6' spacing is encouraged:   64.7% Yes       23.5% No         11.8% Maybe  

While it's not a mass-market cruise line and it doesn't stay out to sea for more than a few hours at a time, this may give some hints to how casinos might operate on the big guys when sailing resumes!  Doug Parker, from Cruise Radio, took one for the team and went for a little sail to check it out.
https://cruiseradio.net/florida-casino-ship-offers-preview-of-cruise-gambling/

Me too (and Numbers)
 

I love this idea !!

You get some entertainment tours (Meet the Cast, ship dependent) and the bridge tour included.
IMO, it is pointless to try to quantify and justify star vs. sky.  If you can do it, and it's not much of a jump, then do it.  As @WAAAYTOOO always says, you can crunch all sorts of numbers, but the value of the Genie is hard to measure.

Star class sounds like an  experience as close to "all inclusive" as you can get on RCL.   I read the amenities, and Star gets you about every on-board dining, drink, internet, specialty, chef's table, in-room bar option, plus the Genie, probably priority tender, embarkation.   Does it get on-board all access tours also?   I was just trying to sum up the difference  between Sky and Star.  We're trying Sky next year, but in the following year I wouldn't be opposed to bumping to Star if the package is better than adding a laundry list of amenities a la carte.  

Star Class Pre-Cruise Questionnaire
Via email at 48 days out.
Random observations...
At 48 days out, it was a bit later than last year. One question is gone, "Apple or Android? What model?" One question is new, "How can we make your on-board experience amazing?" My link from last March still works and brings me to the same "new" questionnaire. So theoretically, those of you who did not receive the survey in a timely manner (and are really Type A like me lol), could probably use the link from a past one. Apologies for the large photos...  

That's essentially what I end up doing.  I just use the cruise line website for the alert.  You can set it, then forget it.   If I get an email I'll then check the cruise line website and do a mock booking to ensure I see a reduction in my cabin category or one above.     If I see a 10% change, I'll call.   We have a B2B med cruises planned I've seen and benefitted from 2 drops - saved about $1500/cruise.   Also on our next cruise (Edge) our TA was able to upgrade us from an S3 to S1 after we provide him with the info.

That's essentially what I end up doing.  I just use the cruise line website for the alert.  You can set it, then forget it.   If I get an email I'll then check the cruise line website and do a mock booking to ensure I see a reduction in my cabin category or one above.     If I see a 10% change, I'll call.   We have a B2B med cruises planned I've seen and benefitted from 2 drops - saved about $1500/cruise.   Also on our next cruise (Edge) our TA was able to upgrade us from an S3 to S1 after we provide him with the info.

Dessert

Love the food in this place.

That's essentially what I end up doing.  I just use the cruise line website for the alert.  You can set it, then forget it.   If I get an email I'll then check the cruise line website and do a mock booking to ensure I see a reduction in my cabin category or one above.     If I see a 10% change, I'll call.   We have a B2B med cruises planned I've seen and benefitted from 2 drops - saved about $1500/cruise.   Also on our next cruise (Edge) our TA was able to upgrade us from an S3 to S1 after we provide him with the info.

As with others I simply do a mock booking on Royal's site for our date and stateroom category.  I also keep a spreadsheet where I manually enter the price.  I not only keep track of our stateroom category but others as well. It helps know the going rate and if we want to upgrade at some point.  Plus if our category sells out, I can keep track if the category below and above it. It's interesting watching Royal's pricing. A lot of times it bounces between two amounts (for a specific category)

Mask tans lines are better than a mortician's make up job.  

Sounds more straight forward.  How do you get the daily pricing info loaded into the spreadsheet?   Is there an app that can pull it?  Or it software that only a TA would have?

Its really a 2 step process, because as you observed, you have to see the discount on the right category.  I get an alert, then I go to the cruise line website and go the the mock booking process for the same room type I currently have.  If I see a reduced price, I call the TA or the line and execute the discount (or in another case, was able to get an upgraded room).  So the CL alert just gives you a generic ping so then you need to dig down to see if its real.  I only will use the cruise line website after that because its verifiable with the agent.
 
Its easier to use it as a filter/alert so you're not logging into the website and doing mock bookings every day.