Cakemeister

I never gain weight on cruises. I fast for three days after Bon Voyage dinner.

Makes perfect sense. Rename the Viking Crown lounge the suite lounge if it is bigger. (no idea if this is true) Then make the suite lounge the pinnacle lounge.

FTFY.

That's news to me. We sailed on September 3 and got our points a few days after we returned, just like always. The FAQ says two weeks: Who Can I Speak with Regarding Missing Crown and Anchor Points? | Royal Caribbean Cruises

The newest Oasis class ships are/were built a long time after the first ones. In between there, they built the Quantum class. It took them from 2009 to 2024, fifteen years, to build six Oasis-class ships and five Quantum-class ships. Covid caused a delay, of course, so call it 13 years of shipbuilding. In a similar way, maybe we will have the three Icon-class ships, then the Discovery-class ships in the 2028 to 2032 time frame, then three more Icon Plus/Icon Ultra-class ships starting in 2034. That'll take us to 2036, thirteen years from now. For this timeline to work, Project Discovery must have already been on the drawing board for several years. They probably didn't have anything better to do during lockdown. Speculation is fun.

I saw a random article that says the average land-based vacation costs $1919 per person per week, or $3838 for two. Average vacation cost: Breakdown of travel expenses in 2023 | Pacaso I cruised on Allure a couple of weeks ago and I paid maybe $2300-$2500 for everything. The final bill hasn't come in yet. My transportation cost was only the cost of parking as I drove, so adding a flight could raise the cost to $3K pretty easily. I also was in an interior cabin. I think the 40% number is bogus. Cruising on the cheap like a lot of us do is a good value, but it costs a lot more than 40% of the equivalent land vacation.

Indeed. If you like spending time in the Diamond lounge, maybe Allure is the best Oasis-class ship.

By then, Icon 2 will likely be ready to go. If a regular cruise ship makes $300 per passenger per sailing, Icon will likely be more, say $500. Matt's calculation was here: Here's how much Royal Caribbean makes on each passenger | Royal Caribbean Blog $500 times 6K passengers (5600 at double occupancy + a few extra) times 50 sailings in a year = $150 million per year profit from just Icon. The ship will be paid off in only 13 years at that rate. And people wonder why the trend is to bigger and bigger ships, and why Royal is blowing Carnival and NCL out of the water.

We had fun. Oasis-class ships are impressive. Food was great, shows were great. Getting on and off the ship was super-smooth. There was a line when we disembarked, but nothing horrible. I will likely not book another Labor Day cruise for a while as the weather was quite warm. Next year we're sailing in January and November.

If you postponed to April, you could take in the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Most of S.A. will have some amount of totality. You should make your reservations now for that, though. National Eclipse | San Antonio, Texas | April 8, 2024 - Total Solar Eclipse Has anyone mentioned Sea World or the historic missions? I live in S.A. but I don't know anything about downtown hotels or restaurants. How long is your trip?

I saw Blades last night. It was amazing! Especially the hula hoops!

Are B2B cruisers locked out of their cabins? On my last cruise, the hallways leading to passenger cabins were blocked off until I think 1:00. We're doing our first B2B in January. Can't wait!

I've seen Saturday Night Fever on the Liberty probably five or six times and it is always great. I go for the singing and dancing, not for the subject matter. I dimly remember the movie being rated R when it first came out and later was changed to PG. I think some of the lights have burned out on the dance floor of the set, if I recall correctly, and I think the stage and the theater in general on the Liberty are part of what should be refurbished in her amplification. I loved everything about sailing on the Liberty when she was in Galveston. I sailed on her six times in seven years. Hopefully she will be amplified soon.

Mostly, I love MTD. Sometimes there is a conflict with the show times. People in the very early MDR seating can go to the second show, and most of the time the very late diners can go to the first show. But that is not always the case. Sometimes, with MTD, you can miss both shows. This might be different on Oasis-class as I have only sailed on smaller ships. With regular dining, you eat with the same folks every time, which can be good or bad. Generally, like Ampurp85 said, when you eat at MTD your party is seated separately from other parties, there are no groups. With regular dining, you also are seated with the same waitstaff every night. Again, this can be good, bad, or neutral. There's no guarantee of having the same staff with MTD. Some staff will tell you to ask for them, probably if you tip, lol. I find the speed of service, quality of service, and quality of food the same between MTD and regular.

Me, too. I've already booked one cruise on Princess, just to try them out. I'll probably book one on Norwegian as well, and MSC when they come to Galveston. Princess are price-competitive now, and if the food is better then Diamond benefits won't keep me with Royal, even if Icon 3 does come to Galveston.

Someone had mentioned in one of the other threads that the pizza thing was just a distraction from an across-the-board price increase. Give with one hand and take with the other.

There is a blog post: I used my Royal Caribbean loyalty perks on Celebrity Cruises. Here's how it saved me a lot of money | Royal Caribbean Blog

Who's that?

I would pay for pizza, if it was worth paying for. A deep-dish pizza with tons of cheese and toppings, fresh out of the oven, would be great! Sorrento's, not so much.

I'm going on a cruise in January and my passport expires in May. Just in case, I'm bringing a birth certificate. It is possible that they won't accept my passport since it expires less than six months after the cruise. EDIT: Cruising from Galveston, closed-loop.

The biggest problems I have with the Diamond lounge: 1) Not open early enough. The Cafe Promenade is okay but I want the good stuff. 2) People hogging the good snacks. 3) Location on some ships. I like the lounge on Liberty, it's way up at the top. Sailaway was great there.

I didn't get a survey but if I did I would vote for a planetarium. I sailed on the Queen Mary 2 and it was wonderful! Another thing they had on that cruise was guest lecturers. People who knew what they were talking about, on a wide range of topics. Also, I would not pay for Sorrento's unless they had a pan pizza.

The gas tank on an Oasis-class ship is about 5000 cubic meters. An Olympic-size swimming pool is about 2500 cubic meters. If the reactor takes up about the same space as the engines would, this might open up some possibilities for more bars and restaurants. Hooray! The LNG tanks on Icon weigh 300 tons each and are 90 feet long. Just think of what you could do with the extra space! Icon of the Seas Construction Update: LNG Fuel Tank Installation | Royal Caribbean Press Center The problem I see is the difference in lifespan between the reactor and the rest of the ship. The USS Nimitz is fifty years old. Plus:

Nah. You just ordered one dessert. I always order three appetizers, one entree, and three desserts. No one seems surprised. I'm sure the waitstaff has seen everything.

The Key may have more value on shorter cruises, as some of the benefits are at the beginning and end of the cruise. Xaa had a really good take on it. Take the cost of the key and subtract the cost of a single two-device Internet package, or two one-device packages if you are Waaaytooo. Then figure out what you think each benefit is worth and add them up. This will be different for everyone. Here's a list of the benefits, minus the Internet package: Priority access during The Key designated arrival time (to be communicated via email). Other benefits may apply at specific ports.* Carry-on bag drop off with delivery to your stateroom. ** Exclusive welcome lunch in the Main Dining Room featuring The Key signature menu.*** Access to the fast lane at onboard activities (activities vary by ship)and private time at the Flowrider. Priority departure at tender ports of call from ship-to-shore. Dedicated seating at shows in the Main Theater, Aqua Theater, Studio B, and Two70.**** On debarkation day, enjoy an exclusive á la carte breakfast and choice departure What is each of these worth to you? Matt has posted on multiple occasions that the sum total of the benefits are not worth the cost, especially since the Key costs $35.99 when it is on sale. For able-bodied suite guests, I would say that the choice is clear to not get The Key. For someone who doesn't need an Internet package or who needs two or more devices per person, don't get the Key. If you are on a short cruise and are disabled and need one Internet package per person, get it if the price is right.