JasonOasis

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.

London has quite a few international airport but from the US your options are limited especially looking for inexpensive tickets. I would suggest looking at Gatwick, and I think there are a couple airlines that fly from the US to Stansted. But your best option would of course be Heathrow but Heathrow sometimes isn't cheap at all.

Does this mean she will be an all weather ship? On the main page it was also mentioned that Royal is working of some type of event in New York as well after her UK sailing. It isn't particularly warm in either the UK or New York in the later months of the year so I find it interesting they would launch her from Southampton and are trying to get her into New York possibly after her UK sailings. Could ICON replace Anthem in New York or be an addition to Anthem in New York?

YES!!!!! The best perk of all two bathrooms. It is the worst when one person hogs the bathroom in the morning for 45 minutes or more but only wants to give me 10 minutes to s**t, shower and shave, oh the devil..... Okay I'm better now

Utopia Seriously Royal that's the best name you could come up with Utopia of the Seas.

I can't speak for everywhere but in Chicago liquor, beer, and wine prices are up across the board the days of one store being cheaper than the other are over in Chicago its terrible. There is a thread up right now where the OP stated they couldn't find crown royal at any bar on their ship and they spoke to a manage who said Royal and crown royal had a disagreement over price. This one thing is for sure you won't find it cheaper onboard the ship. You can alway buy the beverage package and cancel it and repurchase it if it goes lower. Another thing I've started doing is looking at the price of the refreshment package and subtract the difference. For me it put the UBP into a better perspective, right now the refreshment package is $34 dollars per day that means the I'm only pay $32 dollars a day for liquor. I'm the type of person who takes full advantage of the refreshment part of the UBP and the liquor part of the package. When I look at it like that paying $32 dollars more per day for liquor is worth it especially seeing onboard individual drinks are around $13 dollars for spirits. That $32 dollar difference comes out to about 2.4 drinks per day and Lord knows I'm having more than 2 drinks per day on a cruise.

My sister, her husband and child are on this same cruise that left on Miami on April 2nd. Spring break is in full swing and this is her first cruise since the comeback. I text her after reading this and she stated the ship is completely full 100% capacity but again we are in full spring break mode in this country so it is to be expected that ships are going to be at capacity or near capacity. However thus far she is having a blast, yes there are lines they've had to wait 2-4 minutes at times for drinks but the staff has been friendly and helpful from the moment they boarded the ship . She has eaten at the MDR past 2 nights and she had no complaints about the food in the MDR. I think people have to adjust their expectations going forward the days of ships being at 50%, 60%, 70% capacity is over so for those of who have gotten use to limited capacity on ships and no lines, no waiting there are now lines at bars and other venues. I'm sorry the OP lost their seat at the show but my question is what time did the OP show up to the show. Ten minutes before show time they release all seats with the ship being at capacity I'm sure Royal back to enforcing that policy where they release all seats 10 minutes out. I'm sorry the OP isn't having a good time but at least from my sister perspective there are thousands of people on board who are having the time of their lives soaking up the fun in the sun.

You are right Royal did wait until just after the announce that cruise would be allowed to resume, which has me thinking Royal had both a plan A and a plan B for Radiance. It would appear as though the New Orleans and Galveston redeployment was plan B, and perhaps the only reason they pulled Radiance is because they were not seeing the sales numbers they needed to see to justify sending 3 ships to Australia and felt like they had given the situation as much time as they could. This is why I asked what is demand like in Australia because here in the U.S. even before our government allowed cruising to resume demand for cruising was up. In fact some ships were "sold out" thanks to capacity restrictions even before cruising resumed. You had all three major cruise lines Royal, Carnival and NCL all stating future bookings were up, traffic on their individual websites was up in some cases over 100%, first time customer booking were up all before cruising resumed in the U.S.. To cancel an entire season on a ship that is already open for sale isn't a decision I think they made lightly especially just to send that ship to New Orleans on new itineraries not yet for sale. I think the financials/demand drove Royals decision, they must believe or have hard data that suggests Radiance will generate more demand which in turn should generate more revenue for Royal sailing out of New Orleans than it would sailing out of Australia. I certainly hope they send Radiance back to Australia in the near future but for now it appears as though Enchantment will replace her for the 2023/2024 season.

What is demand like right now in Australia? It isn' just Royal that has pulled a ship out of Australia, for the October 2022 - April 20023 season, Carnival has done the same they are only sending the Splendor back to Australia for the time frame mentioned, while the second ship that was home-ported in Sydney will go to Jacksonville Florida. And they still haven't announced what if any ship will replace Carnival Spirit in Australia. At least Royal has announced Enchantment will go to Australia in 2023. Granted Enchantment is not Radiance but I'm thinking the reason they pulled Radiance for the 2022/2023 season is because they are not yet seeing the vigorous return of demand that they've seen here in the U.S. and/or even in Europe. For the European summer season late April 2022 - October 2022 Royal will have 10 ships sailing from various homeports all throughout Europe. If the demand is there Royal finds a way to put the ships there if they are pulling a ship out it has to be a sign that perhaps the Australian/New Zealand market needs more time and less ships while demand slowly returns.