JasonOasis

If you are concerned about your luggage put some AirTags on them and be done with it. Luggage delivery times vary sometimes iv'e checked in at 11am and don't get my luggage until 7pm and other times i've checked in at 2pm and my luggage is outside my room before we leave port. Your stateroom are usually ready by 1pm however if you are carryon items and you wish to drop them off at your room in most cases the attendants will allow you to drop off your items but you will have to leave immediately.

The high cost of cruising has now caught the attention of the news media. According to several new outlets including NBC News cruise prices have soared and are now 43% higher than where they were in 2019. Interestingly enough it isn't Royal Caribbean that leading the way or in the drivers seats it is Carnival with Carnivals CEO saying just a few days ago on CNBC that Carnival with all its brands is well position to push prices even higher industry wide in 2024. Cruise lines from Carnaval, Royal, NCL, even Virgin are all blaming the price increases on unprecedented demand which shows no signs of waning, the rising cost of labor, food and fuel. Carnival stated and I quote "the company has been able to deliver a value of 25% to 50% over comparable land-based vacation alternatives". According to the Today Show this morning a 5 night Bahamas cruise this December will cost at least $736 dollars per person that is 37% higher than it was just last year in 2022. That 37% increase is across all cruise lines with NCL telling the Today Show even with these price increases cruising remains the best value for customers vacation dollars. For cruise lines like Royal, Carnival, NCL, Virgin it is full steam ahead for 2024 and according to the Today Show the cruise lines are saying customers are putting less emphasis on pricing and more emphasis on setting sail to paradise. According to the cruise lines they all stated don't look for prices to come down any time soon, there are still deals to be had but they are few and far between. If you want the best price book early because for now demand and according to another article I read some travel agents agree with cruise lines that cruising is indeed a better value than land-based vacation in fact some travel agents are saying taking a cruise is still 50% to even 70% cheaper than a comparable land based vacation. For people saying they are thinking about switching to Carnival or another brand that is cheaper than Royal just think about people who cruise with Carnival people who are loyal to cruise lines like Carnival some of them are being priced out completely. Think about it if you are being priced out of Royal and are considering Carnival or some other brand that appears to be of value there are people at those brands who are truly being priced out of the cruise industry completely and for now there is no end in sight. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/09/cruise-prices-rise-as-operators-meet-surging-travel-demand.html https://nypost.com/2023/10/10/cruise-prices-surge-43-amid-post-pandemic-travel-boom/ As someone who works in the airline industry an industry I've been in for 27 years I can tell you we are suppose to be in the "off" season now. Before the pandemic mid-September through mid-November was typically the "off" season along with the second week of January through the first week of March. I can tell you this we are not in the off season even though summer is over the children are back in school, the college is back in session airplanes are just as full as they were in July. In fact we are busier this fall than we were at this same time in 2022. I can't explain what is going on in the travel industry all I can say is if you are thinking about travel book early, book early, book early. For those of you looking for last minute deals good luck I truly do hope you can find them.

I've sailed with MSC 3 times already and the next time I'm looking at getting on a MSC cruise is when MSC World America shows up. MSC is a great cruise line but they are not Royal and I'm not just saying that to try to convince people to stay with Royal, I could care less if people cruise with Royal or MSC. All I'm saying is I noticed the difference some good and some not so good. The one area MSC excels in is food, they have some of the best food on their cruise ships, on the other hand if you buy a speciality dinning package and think you will have access to 99% of the menu be prepared to hear a lot of this word NO that is if you ask questions before ordering. Purchasing a specialty dinning package on MSC only gives you access to 15% of the menu if you order anything outside of that 15% they charge you al la carte. If you don't ask your server you won't hear the word NO they will take your order and then surprise you with this nice huge bill at the end of your meal while you are sitting there thinking I have a dinner package then the server will tell you none of what you order was included in the specialty dinner package. The drinks and wifi package is something MSC offers off and on from time to time but just like with NCL it is buyer be where. The drinks package is for well drinks only so if you drink something other than well on land and are looking to have that drink onboard you have to change your preference or pay the difference. And the free wifi is for browsing, email, and text messages only it does not include streaming. That was another thing I noticed people were finding out once onboard, however by now I think people should know anytime a cruise ship offers free wifi it is going to be their slowest wifi that is free anything above that you have to pay. Another area MSC excels in is entertainment any one sailing on Meraviglia pay the extra money for both Cirque du Soleil shows (they are not the same shows). However there is a lot lacking during their daytime entertainment. If you are someone who likes the casino and are use to Royals fairly large casinos then be prepared for an extremely small casino even on their newer ships hopefully they fix this on MSC World America a ship that is being specifically built for the US market. There are a lot of things to do to keep your self entertained on MSC cruise ship but be prepared to pay onboard for some of those experiences much like NCL. Lastly if you are like me and like to cruise in a suite the good news is MSC has a lot of suite categories. However do your homework because some "suites" on MSC ships are suites in name only not in actual size, meaning some "suites" are the same exact size as a standard balcony. So if you are booking a suite because you either want or need extra space do your homework do not just book a suite simply because the word suite exist look at the square footage of the room to make sure you are actually getting what you are paying for. I feel like MSC in America (totally different if you do MSC cruise out of Europe) but here in America I feel like they are a hybrid model somewhere between NCL and Royal. They are quite NCL but they are quite Royal either but it works as long as people go onto their cruise with all the information and the correct expectations. If you do your homework first and modify your expectations your MSC cruise will be a great experience. However, if you go into it expecting Royal then prepare yourself for a huge disappointment. At the end of the day depending on your experience your MSC cruise more than likely will end up costing you just as much as a Royal Caribbean cruise. The difference is you are not paying for it all up front instead you are paying for a lot things once onboard that you don't realize you're paying for until the cruise ends.

Great news for those business owners who would have seen a significant drop in business had this gone through.

I don't see the benefit here either to Royal/Celebrity or us the consumer. I'm diamond plus according to Royal my status would convert over to Captains Club Elite on Celebrity and I would be entitled to all the perks at that level. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/celebrity-loyalty-points#:~:text=For instance%2C if you are,a Captain's Club Elite member. The only thing is I don't get the points on Royal so it doesn't help get me any closer to pinnacle on Royal. But if I'm not trying to reach pinnacle on Royal then what is the issue they are already matching my status on Celebrity, I just don't see the upside to this. In my opinion if they merged these two programs it probably would take 1,000 points or more to reach pinnacle on Royal. There is no way they leave it at 700 and people on Celebrity would have a harder time reaching zenith. It really comes down to what is more important to each individual cruiser. If reaching pinnacle is important then stay with Royal but for those who are ready to experience more than what Royal is offering and don't care about pinnacle then what do you have to loose by cruising on Celebrity.

10/22 Wonder 10/29 Wonder

That is about $1,583 per person roundtrip or $791.50 each way. I hate to say it but that isn't a bad price at all for Europe. And of that $9,500 dollars or $1,583 dollars per person how much of it was taxes and fees? Depending on the airport you are flying into in Europe the taxes and fees can vary widely in some cases adding more than $500 dollars to the price of your ticket. For those Americans who have a European cruise booked for summer 2024 I would say you need to be flexible. If your cruise is leaving on Sunday, instead of departing the US on Friday why not depart the US on Thursday or perhaps even Wednesday or Tuesday. Those days are much cheaper to fly out of the US to Europe than leaving on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or even a Monday. If flying out earlier isn't a choice look at other major airports around Europe. Europe has a fantastic network of trains it may be cheaper to fly into a different international city and take a train to the cruise port. Another thing to look at is your departure back to the US again leaving Europe on Saturday, Sunday even Monday is going to be expensive try leaving on a Tuesday or Wednesday. You have to be flexible if your going to save some money. Also another tool you can use to save money especially if you are not loyal to one particular airline is Google Flights. For example on Google Flights is someone needs to fly Chicago ORD to Rome FCO in August 2024 if they were to leave ORD on a Wednesday their flight would only cost them $669 dollars roundtrip but that same flight leaving on Friday would cost them $1.185.

You do realize in 2019 a one day beach vibe club pass only cost $29 dollars. Here we are 2023 and NCL is now charging $99 dollars for the same area on the ship. This is exactly why I stated the solarium should remain free. There is no reason customers should have to pay to enter a place on a cruise ship like the solarium. For people who want more privacy book a suite so you can have access to the suite deck. It is just a very slippery slope because one a charge is instituted where does it end, NCL has gone from $29 dollars to $99 dollars in 4 years for the same day pass to the same area of the ship that use to be 100% free and open to all.

Please don't give these people any more ideas. Take NCL for example a 1 day pass for their beach vibe club onboard their ships cost a minimum of $99 dollars and week long passes cost $229 dollars a price that is only bound to increase over time. I like the solarium I use both the solarium and the suite deck but I don't want to pay to use the solarium.

You are absolutely right there are business where their entire bottom line totally depends on a successful cruise season. I think their voices are being drowned out by people who just see cruising as a waste of time and resources. Or by those who simply want less mass market cruise ships in their ports and more ultra exclusive luxury cruise ships in their ports.

You can always direct it to your junk folder and then problem solved no more Royal Up emails. But then all Royal Up emails for all future cruises would be sent directly to your junk email.

You don't want to get hurt at all on any cruise, and you certainly don't want be cruising without travel insurance and your passports. Some years ago my husband and I were on MSC a 12 night cruise that visited South America and Panama (the ship didn't go through the Panama Canal) before returning back to Miami. My husband go sick and MSC medically disembarked us in Panama. Although they said someone from the ship would follow up no one did. The MSC Divina sailed away and that was the last we saw or heard from MSC and we were on our own. I'm a world traveler many of you already know I work for an airline but I had to keep my husband who was clearly sick calm because he didn't want to go to a hospital in Panama and it took 4 hours for Panamanian Authorities to process us and let us in the country. It also cost us over $600 dollars (cash no credit or debit card accepted) to enter the country (not sure if that charge was legal or not but I was not about to argue but I was adamant about getting a receipt). They called us a cab and God bless us with an awesome taxi driver he drove us to a pharmacy, he waited in the car with my husband while I went in to get him some pain medication. We are in Colon Panama its now night time we have no place to stay and all our luggage the guy drives us to this hotel and was like it is safe and its clean nobody is going to bother you he told us. He asked us where we were going tomorrow before we got out the cab. I was like I need to get to Panama City tomorrow because I need to get my husband home to Chicago as quickly as possible and PTY is the only airport with daily nonstop service to the U.S.. I just needed to get my husband back to the US and if we couldn't make it all the way to Chicago at least we would be in the U.S.. He said okay I'll be back tomorrow just tell me what time does the flight leave. The guy showed up not only on-time but early called the hotel front desk had them call our room and he drove us all the way from Colon on one side of Panama to Panama City's international airport on the other side of Panama . For all of that (picking us up from the port, driving to the pharmacy, finding us a safe and yes clean hotel, then driving us all the across Panama to the airport ) he only charged us $100 dollars I gave him a $150 dollar tip which at first he refused and I was like no you made my life so much more easier because I'm still dealing with my sick husband. Luckily we had our passports (I never cruise without a passport), luckily we had travelers insurance not only did they cover all our expenses (except the tip I gave the driver) including the outrageous medical charges MSC charged us. They also reimburse us for the remainder of the cruise that we didn't get to enjoy. Before this incident it never entered my mind that a cruise ship could just throw you off in any country and sail away. Luckily I was prepared and thank God that he was looking out for us as well. This is why I now tell people always always always have your passport ( they don't care if you have your passport or not when the ships doctor and chief security officer make a determination to disembark you you have ZERO recourse and when they say representatives will reach out to you to make sure you are okay, LIES..... That is nothing but a lie you are on your own). And always, always, always, have travelers insurance, with travelers insurance as long as you have receipts they cover it. I didn't have to argue, with the representative all I had to do was fill out the paperwork she sent me online and submit it will all my receipts and they covered everything.

You do need a visa or a ETA (electronic travel authority) to enter Australia even if you are arriving via cruise ship. Im assuming you are a US citizen and if that is correct you must have either a visa or an ETA or you will not be allowed to sail because Australian authorities will not permit you to enter the country without it. The good news is this it is very easy to obtain either the visa or the ETA and you can get both done online really quickly and a 3 month visa or ETA only cost AUD20 (20 Australian dollars). Go ahead and book that cruise, and have a great time.

I hope they leave Allure alone, I like the ship as is. It is so easy to forget what the original Oasis of the Seas was like prior to her amplification that is until you get on Allure. I for one enjoy the contrast having that one Oasis Class ship that stands alone and is representative of the original class of ship design. For those who want all the toys and slides they can choose from 5 other Oasis Class ships and for those who want an Oasis Class experience on the original design they have Allure. Royal leave Allure as is. Do not amplify this ship, the ship is great just as it is in its original design.

I have Global Entry but you don't need it at PortMiami the system they use now facial recognition is pretty quick and Royal already has all your passport information. If you get a green light you're good to go if you get a red light you go see an agent. Unless you are brining back things you have to declare the process is much quicker than what it was prior to using facial recognition.

Where did I say or imply that it was a "true match"? Status match does not mean true match you still have to read the conversion chart to see what your Royal Caribbean status gets you on Celebrity.

I don't think Project Discovery is going to be another mega class ship like Icon and Oasis, but at the same time is isn't going to be the size of a Vision Class vessel either. I think as others have pointed out it will probably fall somewhere in size between Radiance and Voyager Class but probably closer in size to Voyager Class than Radiance. With a ship that size there are still a lot of ports around the world Royal can visit. And I'd imagine depending on how successful/profitable Royal's upcoming around the world is they could even do another around the world cruise on their new Discovery Class ship at some point. When I read your post and saw "there is no loyalty benefits to crossing brands" my mind immediately went to airlines and their loyalty programs, where I can fly Lufthansa but have the miles added into my United Airlines MileagePlus account, that isn't going to happen in the cruise industry. You can't cruise with Celebrity and have those points added to your Royal Caribbean account. However just because Royal doesn't allow that does not mean there is no value in crossing brands or no loyalty. What Royal does allow is this Celebrity will match your Royal status on the cruise meaning you will get the benefits on Celebrity of the status that you've earned on Royal. As far as the points go the points will go into your Celebrity account which they will open for you automatically. If your goal is to reach Pinnacle status with Royal I would suggest stay with Royal because as we all know the difference between Diamond Plus and Pinnacle is huge. However if you are Diamond or even Diamond Plus with Royal and don't care about reaching Pinnacle then by all means book a few cruises with Celebrity especially if they are visiting ports of call that you are interested in exploring.

These prices are to be expected. Demand for Icon is still off the charts, it is obvious people are paying these sky high prices to sail on Icon. Just for comparison for an October 2024 cruise if anyone were to choose Wonder those prices start at $1,090 per person and Symphony when I checked was down to $979 per person for inside cabin. Harmony which sails out of Texas has a starting price of just $579 dollars for a 7 night cruise. When I looked at Icon I saw a starting price of $2,288 dollars for an October 2024 cruise. Clearly that outrageous price is being driven by demand and until demand drops back down to normal levels prices for Icon cruises will remain incredibly high. Here is just another comparison I already have a 14 night transatlantic cruise booked on Royal on Odyssey of the Seas it sets sail in November 2024 in a suite. Our 2 week transatlantic cruise in a suite cost less (and I'm talking a lot less because we booked early) than a similar size suite cost on Icon for a 1 week cruise. At the prices they are charging for Grand suite let alone an owners suite or higher on Icon we could not only take our 14 night transatlantic cruise On Odyssey but then turn around and do a 7 night Bahamas cruise out of New York on in a balcony and still not pay as much money as people are paying for a 7 night cruise on Icon in Grand suite or Owners suite.

In a recent article on Cruise Industry News they are saying Port Canaveral will have more ships sailing this winter 2023-2024 season. Royal Caribbean will homeport 4 vessels Carnival will homeport 4 vessels Norwegian will homeport 2 vessels Disney will homeport 2 vessels MSC will homeport 1 vessel However is not just number of ships that is increasing this coming winter season but the size of the ships are increasing as well. Also next season 2024-2025 Celebrity and Princess Cruises are coming to Port Canaveral With more ships and also larger ships homeporting at Port Canaveral these new parking garages will be needed.

For me my post embarkation checklist is put my carryon in my stateroom, put on my flip flops, complete the muster drill, start drinking. If I'm hungry I will go windjammers but only after I get a drink. Don't judge me but I do take full advantage of the deluxe beverage package

The concept is interesting having a floating amusement park like Icon come to a port near you empty. But it would never work because the ship would be loosing money the moment it sails out to sea. Royal and nearly every other cruise line have devised so many ways to get them coins out your pocket in-between ports of call, one of the biggest being the casino which in most ports must remain closed. Your post does have me wondering how much money does an Oasis Class ship (or Icon Class) generate while at sea? And I'm not even talking about a full sea day I'm just talking about traveling between ports?

This is the same thing the airline industry is struggling with in particular both Airbus and Boeing. I think both manufactures know hydrogen is the fuel of the future but for now the issue is storage. Liquid Hydrogen tanks are huge and right now in the airline industry these tanks can not fit in the usual storage which is the wings and center tank. Airlines are not willing to devote cabin space fuel storage so right now engineers and others at both Boeing and Airbus are trying to figure out how to move this technology forward. Looking at the size of the LNG tanks installed on Icon I can only imagine using todays technology how big liquid hydrogen tank would need to be.

The Royal Caribbean Group has decided to cancel the entire 2024-2025 South America cruise season which was to run from December 2024 through March of 2025. Instead Celebrity Equinox will be redeployed to Cape Canaveral and will not be replaced by any other Celebrity cruise ship. All passengers currently booked on cruises will receive a full refund. This means for the 2024-2025 South American season the only cruise line the Royal Caribbean Group will have offering cruises out of South America will be SilverSeas which is many many many times more expensive than Celebrity. This means for the 2024-2025 season the only two affordable, mid-market cruise lines offering South American cruises will be MSC and NCL. https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/08/celebrity-cancels-2024-25-season-in-south-america/ I understand November through March is the busy season for Caribbean cruises but with 63 total ships in the Royal Caribbean Groups fleet I'm absolutely surprised they can't spare just one Celebrity ship to offer reasonably priced cruises out of South America instead they will only offer cruise on SilverSeas where prices for the smallest cabins starts at $15,000 dollars (based on pricing I saw today) and only goes up, up, up from there.

It is good to know Royal will not revert back to relying on outside vendors. I think most people will miss James Van Fleet but I do wish Craig Setzer well in his new role.

Exactly who are these 20%er's who would voluntarily pay for pizza onboard their cruise? What I find equally disturbing is Royal even considered doing this. The fact they asked the question meant some bean counter somewhere actually considered this and somehow it gained enough traction to be put into a survey. I'm glad the people's voice was heard and Royal is abandoning this. One thing Royal needs to keep in mind is customers have choices we can just as easily take our business to MSC which is making great strides here in the US, NCL, or even Carnival.