JasonOasis

So you knew this whole time and bit your tongue .. You know how to keep a secret you gave nothing away this whole time. Royal had a lot of people fooled into thinking they wouldn't go larger than Oasis Class and you let us believe it.... I love it LOL

This is shocking in a good way. I was expecting Utopia to be the largest cruise ship in Royals fleet now we find out now we find out that instead of Icon fitting between Quantum class and Oasis Class, Icon Class will now be the largest class in the fleet.

It could be earlier than 2026. Odyssey 2021, Wonder 2022, Icon 2023, Utopia 2024, Unnamed (Icon Class), 2025, Unnamed (Icon Class) 2026. Looking at the delivery schedule and the total number of ships Royal will have in their fleet I think Royal could potentially be sailing year around from Australia starting in 2024. And with three Icon Class ship coming also can see Royal home-porting either the second or third Icon Class ship in Australia. I know in the past I've link Australia's chances of getting an Oasis Class ship to the recovery of the Chinese cruise market. However if by the time Utopia launches Royal is not seeing the demand in China they may send her to the U.S. like they did with Wonder which may cause some reshuffling. With either Ovation or Quantum remaining in Australia year around, Royal isn't going to give up that summertime capacity in Alaska with Alaska cruises being so popular. I'm thinking they move Anthem to the West Coast to replace either Ovation or Quantum for the 2024 Alaska cruise season. Icon would leave Florida go to Europe for the European cruise season (South Hampton) and Oasis would leave Florida going to New York for the summer season. At the end of the Northern Hemisphere's summer Anthem could be moved down from Alaska to Los Angeles (or maybe San Francisco (Carnival is launching cruises from San Francisco, Royal may want a piece of that action)), Oasis goes back to Miami and Icon comes back to the US and replaces Anthem in New York (since Icon will be an all weather ship), and Australia gets its year around Quantum Class ship starting in 2024.

YES!!!!

But one huge difference is Oasis was empty, last Sunday was her first sailing of the season out of Cape Liberty. This coming Sunday they would need to have all passengers off the ship by at least 10:15 am to have the ship out of her berth by 10:30 am maybe they will open the doors a bit early to let people off if customs and immigration are ready.

Norwegian has canceled the inaugural cruise of Norwegian Prima which was supposed to set sail from Amsterdam to Reykjavik on August 17, citing supply chain issues. NCL is offering all passengers full refunds, a 25% discount on a future cruise and for those passengers who booked their own airfare separate from Norwegian the cruise line is offering up to $300 dollars to cover any change fees. https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/6927/

The Yang Ming just passed Oasis on the New York Harbor webcam. She is huge with all those containers she dwarfed even Oasis.

She is out of her berth now

With Oasis being wider that Anthem, Royal perhaps does not want to risk a collision. Does anyone know how wide the channel is between Cape Liberty and Port Jersey? If a cargo vessel is parked on the opposite side of the channel how much open water would there be between Oasis at Cape Liberty and any cargo ship parked on the other side?

That is great advice for those who are not avid cruisers or don't know when they intend to cruise again. However if you know will be taking another cruise the FCC can be a great deal. For example one of our cruises that I waited for Royal to cancel and we took the 125% FCC we were booked in an owners suite on Symphony I don't remember the exact dollar amount of our cruise fare but I know it was over $5500 dollars that additional 25% Royal put on the FCC amounted to an additional $1375 dollars. For someone like me who takes at least 4 cruises a year taking the 125% FCC was the right decision. So I think people should look at both the FCC and the refund and make a decision that fits their situation.

As much as I would love to see that happen unfortunately it will not. Here in the US Virgin Voyages entrance into this market had no impact on prices in fact Virgin on many of their 4 night cruises from Miami is more expensive than Royal and in some cases even Celebrity on 7 night cruises. And don't be fooled by their all inclusive drinks and wifi. The all inclusive Wifi is the basic/slowest Wifi when can only open simple pages or emails and after a certain point they begin throttling your usage. If you want faster Wifi for streaming, working or if you use a lot of data you have to purchase it The all inclusive drinks does not include alcoholic drinks, fresh pressed juices, or speciality crafted coffees and they do not provide any "traditional" drink packages. You have an account that you can load $200, $300, dollars or more on and you are charged for each alcoholic drink at full price. If you are a person who likes to drink when on vacation you bar tab will get expensive VERY QUICKLY ( I know someone a coworker of mine who did a 5 night cruise and end up with a $1000 bar tab because they love to drink on vacation). Sometimes they do run specials where if you load $100 dollars on your bar tab pre-cruise they will credit your account with an additional $50 dollars. HOWEVER be warned if you do load money on your bar tab pre-cruise and do NOT use the entire tab any money that remains on the tab even if it is your money not a credit from Virgin is NONREFUNDABLE. Some people I know who've cruise with Virgin Voyages absolutely love them and others not so much. One of the biggest complaints I've heard from people who've cruise them but are seasoned cruisers is their staterooms are small and their bathrooms are especially small compared to most other cruise lines and there is little to no in room storage in any non-suite stateroom. Nearly every person I've spoken to who has actually cruised with Virgin says the food is amazing but portion sizes can run small. I am interested in trying out Virgin Voyages it won't happen this year, maybe in 2023 just so I can see for myself and draw my own conclusions but my suggestion would be do your homework don't just buy into their advertising campaign because they have there pros and cons.

While this is good news, I wonder in a typical year how many cruises are canceled or delayed more than 3 calendar days (operative word is calendar)? Hopefully there will be no more shutdowns of the cruise industry. If there aren't this change will only impact a small percentage of the millions of passengers who set sail from a US port. Of the complaints to the FMC I wonder did they take the time to investigate how many complaints were from passengers who jumped the gun and canceled their cruises before the cruise line officially canceled the cruise and how many had their cruises canceled only after the cruise lines officially canceled their cruise. Remember originally were only canceling cruise 4 weeks out as they and many most people thought this would be over sooner rather than later. I know on one of my cruises I jumped the gun and canceled before Royal officially canceled the cruise it was a nonrefundable cruise (great rate on Oasis out of New York in April of 2020) they offered me 100% FCC. The other two cruises I had book in 2020 I took a different route and decided to wait for Royal to officially cancel the cruise. Afterward I called and was given an option of either a full refund or a 125% FCC of course I took the 125% FCC and I remain loyal to Royal.

One of the best perks in my opinion are the priority tender tickets. Depending on your specific itinerary there are a few ports where Navigator is tendered not docked. Those priority tender tickets make all the difference in my opinion. Also as others have pointed out you can enjoy breakfast and lunch in speciality restaurants, free room service, free pressing service if you are dressing up for formal night and many other perks. The one down side is Navigator is not part of the Royal Suite Class which is only on Quantum and Oasis Class ships, so some of the perks that you get on ships in those classes are not offered on ships of a smaller class.

I would base my decision on the itinerary. This coming December we are on Harmony 8 night cruise, I specifically chose this cruise because of the itinerary. It's probably been 10 years since I've been to Aruba and neither my husband or I have ever been to Curacao so instead of booking Wonder, Symphony, Oasis or Allure we decided to book Harmony because of the itinerary.

U.S. marketing campaign for Carnival.... Ugh so tacky

I think the judge's order will stand. The CDC's argument that this specific ruling could impact it ability to oversee public health should there be another pandemic is nothing more than a scare tactic. And their argument that they still need to protect immune compromised individuals on traveling on mass transit doesn't hold water because at this point it is every persons individual responsibility to protect themselves whether they are immune compromised or not. My dad who is immune compromised continues to double mask he wears a 3 ply surgical mask and an N95 mask on top of the surgical mask. He and my mom are getting on an airplane in couple of weeks heading to Hawaii. Both have been vaccinated and because of their age and my dads condition they've been double boosted my mother said she is not wearing a mask on the 9+ hour nonstop flight from Chicago to Maui, they will not cancel their vacation after more than 2 years of not taking one and my dad is good with that. At this point in the pandemic I think any reasonable judge will see that we don't need the CDC to hold our hand any longer with mandates. It is past time that people take personal responsibility for their own safety and if you think the risk is to high then stay home and let the rest of us get on with our lives.

Standard adapters like the ones you can buy at Amazon, Walmart, Target, or any other retail location are allowed on Royal Caribbean ships.

Even with pre-paid gratuities we alway tip the stateroom attendant. If we use the MDR we will tip our waiter but these past few cruises we haven't used the MDR so our stateroom attendant gets it all.

I've taken this exact one on multiple cruises and I've never had any problems I also alway bring with me European power adapters so I can use the European power ports in the room as well if I need them.

I agree with what most people have said it is a matter of perspective. Since this is your first time booking a junior suite I would say keep it for the sailing and once your cruise is over compare your personal experience in a junior suite to your experience in a balcony only then can you make a determination if it is worth the extra money on the next cruise. Personally after I booked our first junior suite and completed the cruise the suite bug bit me and I can say we've never stayed in a balcony since. Just a warning it can be difficult to go back to balcony after experiencing a suite and the junior suite is simply the gateway that leads to even larger and larger suites.

The Points Guy is reporting that this past Monday Celebrity sent out notices to all travel agents advising them they are officially canceling all cruises in Asia through first half of 2023. Celebrity had cruises scheduled to operate out of homeports in Tokyo, Honk Kong, and Singapore all cruises were to sail on Celebrity Solstice. Solstice will instead now offer sailing to the Mexica Riviera. The article also noted that Princess Cruises has also cancel part of their 2022 Asia itineraries but they are still planning on resuming cruises from Japan this winter while other cruise lines are planning on resuming cruising from Japan this fall. This despite the fact that Japan even though Japan has reopened Japan has not reopened to tourism. Anyone not a citizen looking to enter Japan must be an international student attending school in Japan, a business travel traveling on official business, or foreigners who are long-term residents of Japan. Thus far Japan has not given any indication as to when they will allow tourist or tourism, including cruising to resume. Unlike Celebrity, Royal is not pulling out of Asia until 2023 although Royal has canceled all cruises from China and Japan Royal announced previously they will continue to off short cruises out of Singapore on Spectrum of the Seas. https://thepointsguy.com/news/asia-cruise-season-cancellations/

I agree with you about bionic bar when it was first introduced there were lines to get a drink, there were crowds of people taking pictures who where in line for a drink. We are on Wonder of the Seas right now there is literally no one at bionic bar and I've seen no one using bionic bar. The same was true on my previous cruises on Anthem in January and Symphony in October. I would like to see Bionic Bar replaced with something else because the WOW factor has worn off for most people. The North Star is a great attraction it had been a while since my husband and I had been on a Quantum Class ship so we were surprised to see Royal was charging to North Star on Anthem while the ship was at sea but there was never any shortage of people going up in the North Star while at sea and while in Port. We went up while in port only because I didn't think it was worth paying $29.95 to go up while at sea but had it been free I for sure would have been trying to book a North Star sunset ride to get a picture from that vantage point.

I've never experienced a false alarm on a cruise ship but I have experienced the mask dropping on an aircraft and making an emergency descent and you are absolutely correct people panic in that moment some don't put the mask on, while others put the mask on but they only covered their mouths when they are supposed to cover their nose and mouth. When I first met my husband he would always tease me about why I would always pay attention during the emergency brief and I would tell him you never know when you might need it and the ability to follow simple instructions in an emergency could be the difference between life and death. Something as simple as putting on an oxygen mask properly could make all the difference and yet I think I read somewhere that over 75% of passengers on aircraft don't pay attention to the emergency briefing. I like the new e-muster but passengers have to: A) take it upon themselves to actually watch and pay attention to the video, B) take the required time to familiarize themselves with where they are supposed to go in the event of an emergency, and C) how to use the emergency equipment.

I absolutely love Voyager Class vessels, I agree with a lot of what others have already stated some of the best cruise experiences that I've had have been on Voyager Class vessels. Don't miss understand I do love my Oasis Class ships but there is something to be said about a smaller class of ship. I haven't done a cruise on a Radiance Class ship and my husband told me he isn't interested in cruising on a Vision Class vessel but I do hope to one day either this year or next year get on a Radiance Class ship. What I'm wonder is when Royal decides to retire the Vision Class (probably won't happen before 2033) will they replace that class of vessel with a class of similar size or will they continue in the trend of building 4,000+ passengers cruise ships and let smaller boutique cruise lines takeover more that space Vision Class vessels occupy? Will we see cruise lines like Royal pivot back to building smaller brand vessels as their smaller older vessels inch closer and closer to retirement?

You can but I would suggest you not do it like that because it will all be the same sign on for all 4 devises and if you all are all bringing more than one devise onboard (cell phone, tablet, computer, ect) and you each don't sign out of the devise your are using before signing into a different devise the system will randomly choose one devise and disconnect it automatically from the network even if that devise is currently being used and connected to VOOM. My suggestion is buy each package separately this way all 4 of you have your own individual sign in links and then you don't have to worry about being kicked off VOOM should someone forget to logout before login with a different devise.