JasonOasis

It looks like the originals Oasis and Allure solariums are ahead. It's still mind blowing that Oasis 7 will be delivered 19 years after the original Oasis was delivered, it just speaks to the popularity of this specific class of ship.

I've been in Coco Cay several times where there were 2 Oasis Class ships docked. I've been at Coco Cay when Symphony and Odyssey were in port and they put Symphony on the port side we arrived after Odyssey. However I have noticed when there is an Oasis Class ship (I haven't sailed on Icon yet) and a much smaller ship in port in my experience the larger Oasis Class ship is nearly always on starboard side.

Turn around day is terrible no matter the size of the ship no one likes turn around day but its part of the job. Royal Caribbean should not abandon the 3/4 night market nor should they place their smallest or less desirable ships in this market simply because employees don't like turn around day. Utopia has revolutionize the 3/4 night Bahamas cruise market so much so that cruise lines like MSC, and NCL are planning to put brand new or nearly brand new large ships into this market its later this year or in 2026, and I think its only matter of time before Carnival puts an Excel Class ship in this market as well. Crew members don't like Perfect Day, they don't like Labadee because everything brought on those islands comes off the ship. Devils advocate here should Royal remove Perfect Day and Labadee from itineraries some ships even those on 7 night itineraries visit Royal's private islands every cruise. Should Royal remove Perfect Day or Labadee simply because crew members don't like visiting those islands do to the extra work that comes along with visiting those private islands? Where does one draw the line and if you draw the line what are the financial implications of that line being drawn. I've been on Utopia 3 times already and we've got a B2B2B (10days) on Utopia booked for September 2025 it's going to be 10 of us Chicagoans living it up. It is a party ship it has taken over for Freedom which was the party ship before Utopia. I've sailed on Freedom to many times to count and Freedom like Utopia is loud and there are times when yes I want a party ship atmosphere and there are times when I want a relaxing cruise vacation which is what I'm on now on Harmony of the Seas. Anyone going on a 3/4 night Bahamas cruise who's looking for a quite "normal" low key cruise experience is on the wrong ship. It's no different than anyone going on Icon expecting to not see a bunch of kids running around is on the wrong ship. As far as employees I agree turn around day is a nightmare I've spoke to many employees and no matter the size of ship they all say turn around day is a nightmare. But it is a nightmare that supports a lot of employees salaries. It is a nightmare that is helping Royal pay down a ton of debt as a result of the pandemic shutdown. It is a nightmare that is paying dividends as Royal continues to attract more people into the cruise industry and its help cement Royal position as an industry leader.

My husband and I are currently onboard Harmony of the Seas a week or so before we boarded there was an article on this site detailing the benefits of obtaining Prime status if one person already has status. My husband has been prime for years after reading that article he was like we need to get you to Prime. Surprisingly it wasn't difficult and not that expensive if lady luck is on your side. We played the standard slot machines, 2 machines on my card but as it turns out were weren't winning and it would have cost us a lot of money to get me to Prime. So instead we switched strategies and decided to play high roller slot machine where the minimum bet is $5 dollars. Instead of 2 machines we combined our money and played 1 machine. We ended up winning $3,700 dollars on one of the simply presses of the button, but I still wasn't Prime so we had a decision to make walk away with the $3,700 dollars knowing that this is our last cruise before April 1st or use Royal Caribbean's money that $3,700 dollars to help get me to Prime. Long story short I hit Prime and I started out this cruise with only 568 points as I've said in other post I'm not a gambler my husband and we've used his benefits a lot and I never would have thought about trying to reach Prime if not for that article which I'm grateful for. As always please gamble responsibly and never gamble what you don't have or what you can't stand to loose. But if you are trying to reach Prime as a husband/wife, husband/husband, wife/wife if your not making a lot of progress using one strategy or you spending a lot of money using one strategy try shifting your strategy and/or combining your money on one machine. That shift in our strategy saved us thousands of dollars of our own money even though we eventually lost all $3,700 dollars during the course of losing that $3,700 dollars we kept winning $500 dollars here, $700 dollars there which eventually added up the points to the point that I acquired enough points to hit Prime. Loosing what was more than $3,700 dollars would have been a hard pill for me to swallow not that I don't have the cash I just can't stand losing that amount of money but once it clicked in my head that I was playing with Royals money not our money the decision to continue was was easy. And once I reached Prime we both got up and left the Casino and haven't been back in there. It may seem like a crazy strategy but the objective was to get me to Prime while hopefully not having to spend our entire gambling budget to do so. Now both of us are Prime which is going to help us save even more money on our up coming cruises. The point is we probably could have played the tables but like Ampurp85 pointed out we both would have had to play on our own separate cards and no one knows how points are accumulated at the tables so the straight forward option is the slots if reaching a higher tier is what you're going after.

Be careful what you wish for, Anthem is a great ship and now it appears as though Odyssey won't be heading to Southampton which basically leave a Freedom Class ship or Voyager Class ship as the most likely options. Given all the places Royal can sail to from Southampton Oasis and Icon Class ship are simply out of the Question, and they absolutely will not pull off Odyssey of Greek Island cruises. This is just another reason why Discovery of the Seas is needed.

Taking a river cruise is on my bucket list, it probably won't happen for another 10 years simply because right now I'm not sure it's for me at my age. I still love the big cruise ships out on the open ocean. This move is huge and give where Celebrity Cruises now sits because of the Edge Class of ships they have really been attracting more cruiser who are looking for a more upscale experience. My husband and I went on a Celebrity Cruise last year it was a wonderful experience and completely different experience than what's found on Royal Caribbean ships but still an absolute wonder experience and something I look forward to once I grow up and graduate from Royal. While Royal's CEO says this isn't about going after Viking cruises and it most likely isn't. There must be some data somewhere showing Royal that Viking is poaching away some of their customers when those customers decided to take a river cruise only because Celebrity doesn't offer river cruises. For people not completely familiar with Celebrity Cruises this move might seem like gamble something out of left field but Celebrity and Royal have experience in the luxury and non-mainstream cruise market after all Celebrity has ships like Xpedition, Xperience, Xploration, and lets not forget the ultra luxurious and exclusive Flora. While Royal my not be directing going after Viking River Cruises they are going after Viking in a round about way by letting Celebrity customers who sail with Viking when they want to do a river cruise CelebrityRiver Cruises is coming in 2027. Viking use to do river cruises only but Viking realized they had loyal customers who also wanted to go on ocean voyages so they built brand new ocean bound ships to hold on to their customers. Im my opinion Royal is only returning the favor and if they do it right if they get the ships right this has the potential to be huge for Celebrity. And I love the fact that he stated we aren't just looking at Europe because Viking has quietly built up their operations here in the United States where they are sailing the Mississippi River and they also a few years ago launches seasonal sailing on the Great Lakes. They don't sail out of Chicago where I live but they do set sail from some place up in Wisconsin. If Royal does this right they could not only sail some of Europes greatest rivers they could also sail down/up the Mississippi River and on the Great Lakes as well.

I’m currently sailing on Harmony of the Seas we left Galveston on Sunday and it’s been about 6 years since I last set sail on Harmony. I’ve been blessed to have been able to sail on all 6 Oasis Class ships each one numerous times it is my favorite class of ship after all. What I’m wondering is which Oasis class ship has the best Solarium in your opinion? I’m torn between Wonder/Utopia with its climate controlled solarium and the original Oasis of the Seas. If we throw the climate controlled environment out I think I’d choose the original Oasis solarium as being the best. Harmony would rank 6 out 6 because its has no pool just a few hot tubs in the solarium but I think the original Oasis got it right when it comes to the solarium. If I were to rank all 6 solariums it would be Oasis, Utopia, Allure, Wonder (just to split up Utopia and Wonder) Symphony, Harmony. What do you all think? Which Oasis class has the best solarium?

In my opinion you can’t go wrong with Chops, Giovanni and Izumi. If you’re going to do just one speciality restaurant do one of those or if you want to splurge on a speciality dinning then I would do Royal Rail Road but it does cost more money than your standard speciality restaurant.

As popular as cruising has become in recent years it's better to just book the room you want than trying to score a major upgrade for pennies on the dollar. Royal Up isn't what it once was before the pandemic.

Good Morning Casino Royal Prime Members today might be a great day to check your casino royal offers on the website as they just sent us out new offer codes that included both balcony and Junior Suites. Generally most offer codes for Prime members are for interior, ocean view or balcony staterooms. However every so often 2 or 3 times a year Casino Royal will send offer codes that includes free junior suites. The offer will say junior suite or balcony because they only have a few junior suite that they are basically giving away for free once they are gone they're gone and everyone else ends up with a balcony. My husband and I just booked Oasis of the Seas an 8 night Southern Caribbean cruise in a junior suite and all we paid was the taxes which was $189 dollars for an 8 night cruise. I also would encourage those who are not Prime to at the very least read the article on the main page of this blog site where it talks about maximizing casinos perks. Full disclosure I'm not a gambler my budget for gambling on a 7 night cruise is $500 dollars max and sometimes I'll walk off the ship with $300 dollars that I didn't gamble because the casino took $200 dollars from me and I'm like forget it I'm done. My husband is a responsible gambler he will put money aside for weeks in an account that he'll use as his gambling money onboard which is how he has prime status. Not trying to get people to start gambling just sharing our experience and really who doesn't like a good deal like a free junior suite.

Based on communication I received through my job the REAL ID deadline of May 7th will NOT be extended as it has been for several years now. Although I always say never cruise without your passport the truth is there are people who cruise with just their birth certificate. If you are such a person who has no passport and you fly to reach your cruise departure port and use either your drivers license or state ID to get through security at the airport listen up. Starting May 7th the TSA will only accept a passport or REAL ID as the form of identification. REAL ID has been delays multiple years even before the pandemic but afterwards passport processing times, and extreme backlogs at Secretary of State offices around the country lead the Department of Homeland Security to extend the deadline for when REAL ID would go live. There are no more passport processing delays, most Secretary of State offices have cleared their backlog from the email communication I've received last week May 7th is the deadline with no further extensions/delays being considered. So If you have not already gotten your REAL ID from your Secretary of State office and you travel without your passport then this May 7th deadline will affect you. However, If you have a passport then you don't need a REAL ID just be sure to bring your passport with you when you fly. Any driver license or state ID card that is not REAL ID compliant starting on May 7th will result in you being turned away at TSA security checkpoints if you don't have your passport with you. While I'm on the subject of things/documents you need to travel this is a reminder for those of you who will be cruising from the UK. If you are flying into the UK from the US and hold a US passport you will need a ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) to enter the UK. The application process is quick and easy but it MUST be done and you must have approval prior to your flight leaving the US. If it is not done prior to your flight leaving the US the airline has to deny you boarding. For now the ETA cost £10 pounds or $12.20 dollars at current exchange rates, however the UK has just submitted a proposal to increase the cost of the ETA to £16 pounds or $19 dollars. The proposed increase has not yet been approved but it is expected that it will be in the coming weeks or months. So again if you have booked a cruise that departs from the UK and you are flying to the UK to board that cruise and are a US passport holder do not delay get your ETA now. The UK's ETA is good for up to 2 years or when your passport expire (if you have less than 2 years on your passport). If you're traveling to the European Union (not to be confused with the UK) for a cruise later this year for now US passport holders to not need a EU ETA (the EU continues to delay the rollout of their ETA) for now the EU is looking at implementing their ETA a some point during the second half of 2025. Just keep an eye out if you are cruising from the EU starting in July or later their ETA could affect you if it launches during the second half of this year. Happy Cruising everyone, just make sure you have all the required documents if your flying to get to your cruise stress free.

Is 30 years really the absolute age limit for cruise ship? I'm asking because I honestly don't know and also because in the industry I work in the airline industry we thought 30 years was the limit for commercial aircraft before the would be sold off to either a cargo company or sold for scrap. Now days there are several airlines domestic and international including UA and DL and AA who have 30+ year old aircraft still in commercial service. The maintenance cost is high on these 30+ year old aircraft as they require more maintenance, and maintenance checks at more frequent intervals. The flip side is they are money makers for the airlines as they leverage these aircraft throughout their networks extracting the most value out of them in between those costly maintenance visits. But even in the airline industry its a double edge sword as both United and Delta retired their 747-400s before they ever reached their 30th birthday because of high maintenance cost whereas both airlines have held on to their 757s, 767s (some of which are over 30 years old) and all 3 airlines AA, DL, and UA are flying A320s, and some 737-800s that are 30 years old and older. But it is easier now days to find places in the network where they can optimize 30+ year old 757s 737s and A320 than a 370+ seater 747-400. I get its apples to oranges but is 30 years really the limit in the cruise industry or can Royal squeeze out a few more years if necessary to give themselves more time to get Project Discovery right the first time right out of the gate?

Let me start out by sayin gI'm not disagreeing with you and I certainly hope to see Project Discovery fulfilled somewhere between the size of a Voyager Class ship and Freedom Class ship. What now has me worried is given how expensive it is to build a clean sheet design cruise ship how long would it take for a Royal to turn a profit off a potential Project Discovery ship if it is smaller in size. Right now Oasis Class and Icon Class ships are the destinations there are just as many people sailing on those ships just because the love the class of ship as their are people sailing on those ships to visit the various ports of call. Can a smaller Project Discovery have that same duel appeal that has made Oasis and Icon Class ships so popular? Whereas ships in the Voyager/Vision/Radiance class aren/t necessarily the destination, the destination is the destination and the cruise ship is just the vessel transporting folks fro one port to another. Can a ship smaller than Quantium Class be the destination while also getting you to the destination that the larger mega ships simply can't visit? And if the ship is the destination like an Oasis or Icon Class how much space does Royal dedicate to things like activities, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, shopping, the list goes on and on keeping in mind the more space you dedicated to things like that equals less space for staterooms or worst smaller staterooms. Again I want to see Project Discovery come to fruition but given how competitive that part of the market has become and given what we've seen from companies like NCL which has done a complete 180 with their Prima Class realizing the original Prima which is a destination ship was to small didn't have enough staterooms something they are correcting with Prima 3 and 4 which will be 10% larger than the original Prima, and when Prima 5 and 6 are delivered both those ships will be not only longer than Prima but also wider than Prima by at least 20%. On the other hand you have Virgin Voyages which has found success with its smaller ships that are also destinations but Royal isn't Virgin. Trying to thread this needle is going to be difficult and I don't think Royal wants to find themselves in the position NCL found themselves in within months of Prima's launch where NCL went back to the drawing board to expand Prima 3, 4, 5, and 6 which pushed the delivery of all those ships back by a few years do to design changes. Prima 5 and 6 because of the massive changes taken place will now not be delivered to NCL until 2027 and 2028 which is years behind their original schedule and a ta point in time where NCL needs every new ship it can get. Royal doesn't what that to happen to Project Discovery to avoid that they've have to take the time now to get this right or suffer the same fate NCL is currently suffering with Prima Class.

If your intentions are to sail in a junior suite then by all means book the suite guarantee and save your self some money in the process. If you're booking the suite guarantee hoping to score something other than a junior suite then be prepared for disappointment, now days a suite guarantee = junior suite on nearly every Royal Caribbean ship.

This was address by Matt on the main page a few days ago and I understand not wishing to search the main page for this information . But on the main page a few days ago it was reported by Matt that Royal issued a statement addressing this issue where they stated the policy only applies to alcoholic drinks. Non-alcoholic drinks can still be served unopened, taken and enjoyed in your stateroom. There may have been some confusion on a few cruises when Royal laid down the law and began cracking down on this policy but they have since cleared things up. You can take any non-alcoholic drinks from the bar back to your stateroom unopened. I think perhaps the moderators could amend the title of this thread or attach a link so people are no longer being irritated or worked up by something that isn't policy.

Weekend 3N cruises are really the party cruises. I've done 4N and 3N cruises on freedom at different times I even done a B2B on Utopia this year and the 4 night cruise on Utopia and even Freedom is completely different than the 3N weekend cruises. I haven't done a 5N sailing ever but I've done plenty of 3N, 4N, 6N, 7N, all the way up to 14N and I can say from my experience there is no real difference in the 4N even 6N cruise atmosphere verse a 7N.

Thank you so much for posting this it's so amazing and easily forgotten how Royal went from Voyager Class being celebrated as the largest cruise ship in 2000 to Oasis OTS first sailing just 9 years later. Oh yes let's not forget Freedom Class was launched in-between both Voyager and Oasis Class ships. It makes me wonder given all the work a cruise line has to do behind the scenes even before they announce a deal with a ship yard to build a new class of ship if Royal wasn't already working or thinking about Oasis Class back in 2000 but hadn't publicly announced it yet while celebrating Voyager Class. I think Royal knows what they want to do with Discovery Class but they are going to keep everything about Discovery Class under wraps for a long a possible. They don't want to tip their hand too early given how competitive the cruise industry has become. And if Discovery isn't going to be an mega class ship Royal really wants to keep this one under wraps for as long as possible given the fact Discovery if the right size could be deployed to markets like Norway, Northern Europe, Panama Canal, Alaska, Asia, and if Royal decides to get into South America/Antarctica with Royal branded ships. The competition is fierce in markets where Discovery could potentially be deployed so I understand Royal wanting to keep anything Discovery related under wraps for as long as they possibly can.

Last month on my Symphony cruise I witness the bar staff opening cans of beer for people who requested an unopened can. They told people they could no longer serve them an unopened can of beer. I did see them give people cans of pop unopened but they are absolute sticklers when it came to the beer they would not serve any beer unopened. However I had no issue with bottles of water. I do drink a lot on a cruise therefore I also have to consume a lot and I mean a lot of water as well. I'm guilty of stocking the fridge in my room with bottle water and both my husband and I both use our diamond plus vouchers for power aides and put those in the fridge as well. All unopened and no issues from the staff at all. For people concerned most of these policies have no effect if you and your party have purchased the appropriated beverage package for your needs. But what happens is people try to game the system and purchase 1 beverage package for their entire party then start freaking out and taking to social media when the cruise line cracks down.

There are so many port in the Caribbean that neither an Oasis or Icon Class ship can visit because of their size that smaller vessels can get into. Being a warm weather ship is not a limiting factor the size of the ship is and not just in the Caribbean but in many ports around the world, port Royal would have to pull Royal Caribbean ships out of if they don't have a smaller class of ship that can get into these ports in the 2030s and 2040s as some of their older smaller ship get closer to retirement within the next decade.

With Oasis 7 coming and Icon 4 on order as well I do think this time around they are going to build a smaller class ship. Their smaller ships are continuing to age and earlier this year Royal CEO spoke directly about the fact Royal knows not everyone who cruise is interested in the ship being the destination there is that group of customers where the destination is the priority and he stated Royal does not want to loose those customers. I do think Discovery class most likely will be around the size of Voyager Class ships which should allow it to get into a lot of unique ports around the world where ships like Oasis Class and Icon Class could never visit.

I've seen this before on my most recent cruise I had a junior suite guarantee and the Royal Up offer also included options for me to bid on a junior suite, which of course I didn't. I bid for the grand suite and above didn't get any of them which was fine with me. But when the offer came I did hav the option for me to bid on a junior suite even though I had a junior suite guarantee but no room assigned yet. I think the Royal Up offer does this because they are different types of fares and fare codes the cruise line uses even within the same stateroom. I remember this was probably 2016 or 2017 before I got my first taste of the suite life I remember calling Royal Caribbean because we were booked in a balcony on the 6th floor and I wanted a balcony (same size room, same size balcony) on the 10 floor and I was told it would cost more for what was the exact same room but it had a different fare code so it was more expensive. You are guaranteed an ocean view balcony but they are not all the same since you haven't been assigned a room Royal Up will present you with options starting just above the fare you're booked into and go up from there.

Its hasn't stopped or even slowed down tourism into the United States. As others have already pointed out the US government has been charging tourist an ETA for 15 years now. What we are American's are seeing is simply reciprocality to a tax citizens other other countries have had to pay to enter the US. The price of this tax will be baked into the price of the overall cruise I don't think $42 dollars is going to be the deciding factor for passengers considering whether to cruise to Mexico to cruise to the Caribbean. Given how expensive cruising has gotten since the pandemic and demand remains at an all time high I don't see $42 additional dollars being the straw that breaks the camels back.

If you have a cruise booked that set sail from Southampton beginning in 2025 you will need to apply for a ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) from the UK government. This new requirement by the British government goes into effect starting January 8, 2025 and it applies to nearly every country including US passport holders. The ETA will cost around 10 pounds or $12.65 at the current conversion rates. The UK ETA is not to be confused with the EU's ETA which has been delayed multiple times from 2022 and now they are looking at launching their ETA during the second half of 2025 but that could still change. However if you are traveling to the UK on or after January 8, 2025 and you are a US citizen with a US passport you will need a UK ETA. The UK began accepting applications for the ETA for US citizens today November 27, 2024. Once approved your ETA will be good for multiple entries into the UK for 2 years or passport expiration whichever is shorter. According the British government most people should receive approval within 3 days of applying. However failure to apply could result is some major headaches especially if you wait and apply on the day of departure while at the airport as you may not get approval in time to board your flight. You will not be allowed entry into the UK without the ETA. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-opens-pre-travel-requirement-to-non-europeans#:~:text=From today all eligible non,UK from 2 April 2025. https://www.cu.edu/blog/psc-communicator/us-travelers-will-need-eta-uk-travel-beginning-january

I did a B2B in September of this year on Utopia and that is one of the downsides of destination elevators on Utopia is that you really only have 6 total elevators that can get you to floor 17 and 18. I don't know your mobility situation but what I found works when that comes up is to simply take the elevator to floor 16 and walk up either the 1 or 2 flights of stairs. Having only 6 total elevators available for floors 17 and 18 on both Utopia and Wonder is a double edge sword. On the one hand there is without a doubt less traffic from people who aren't staying on those floors compared to Symphony, Harmony, Allure, and Oasis. But the down side is sometimes you have to wait even to get down the wait can be 10 minutes to get an elevator.

The Black Friday Early Access sale ends tonight and I just scored another deal. Ever since they started the sale the DBP for our January cruise on Harmony hovered between $85 - $87 dollars per day. I just checked and booked the DBP just moments ago the price had dropped down to $61 dollars for the DBP for our 7 night cruise on Harmony this coming January. I also just scored a deal for Utopia in September of 2025 purchased the DBP for $58 dollars per person. Prices constantly changing if you didn't find a deal when the sale first began I would strongly encourage you to check again. As it currently stands I have booked the DBP for 4 out of out 5 cruises for 2025, I don't even know at this point how much I've saved. So far I haven't paid over $61 dollars for any DBP for 2025. The only cruise I still can't find a deal on is our Symphony of the Seas cruise during spring break I think I'm just going to have to pay the pre-cruise prevailing rate as Royal doesn't seem to want to budge on the price over the spring break season.