JasonOasis

I never had any issues using my wow band at any bar on RC ships that had wow bands and I never had an issue gaining access to my cabin using a wow band. Now for the onboard shops, spa and casino it would be nice if wow bands worked as currency like your seapass and is something that can be fixed through IT and programming. But of course we all know Royal's IT departments isn't exactly the best in the business. But for what the wow band does it is absolutely better than having to use your seapass for everything.

I'm sailing out this coming Saturday on Symphony, fingers crossed they are back onboard.

We are in the middle of inflation nation the price of everything has gone up. Have you seen the price of eggs recently? Now imagine how many eggs Royal Caribbean is using fleet wide every week? And that's just eggs that doesn't take into account any other food that is included in the price of the cruise. I'm the grocery shopper for my husband and I what use to cost me $150 dollars in groceries is now over $300 dollars for the same groceries. Next think about the cost of fuel which is still expensive and then labor cost have gone up, also something most people don't think about is the cost associated with with waste removal once the ship is back in its homeport. I know from working in the airline industry disposal of waste both garbage and human waste has gotten extremely expensive. If customers feel like they are being priced out of cruising I would suggest choosing a cabin in a lower category or chose an older ship. If you're looking to cruise on an Oasis Class, Quantum Class and for sure Icon class expect to pay a lot more money. Anyone expecting prices to come down over the next year or so is going to be greatly disappointed. My husband and I just decided to turn our October cruise on Wonder into a B2B they had one Crown Loft suite left it cost $13,560 dollars, a lot more than the Crown Loft we had already booked and paid for. At first we were going to book a junior suite at $3,982but dollars because their were no Grand Suites available we changed our minds and decided to pay the higher price because we wanted a Crown Loft, wanted access to the suite deck, and Wonder has less Crown Lofts/Grand Suites than any other Oasis Class ship. Since we were already book in a Crown Loft and we didn't want to play the RoyalUp game with so few suite we decided to just pay the price and enjoy our vacation. To go from a Crown Loft on week one to a junior suite on week two was a compromise we weren't willing to make so we paid the the higher price.

Oasis Class ships were designed from the ground up to feel spacious. Prior to covid the only time I personally felt like any Oasis Class ship felt crowed was after the emergency drill. Since cruising has resumed the e-muster has replaced the in person drill so the only time it feels crowded is during breakfast at Windjammers like an hour or two before they close. I've never really had an issue finding pool chairs on an Oasis Class ship, even on sea days, you may not get the spot you want but you can always find chairs at the pool. Since cruising resumed I've sailed on Freedom twice, Anthem, and on Harmony, Symphony and Wonder. In my opinion Harmony, Symphony and Wonder all felt less crowded than Freedom and Anthem because of how Oasis Class ships were designed. In 10 days I'll be boarding Symphony for another 7 night cruise, it look like the ship is nearly sold out, I think there might be a few interior cabins left but I'm looking forward to relaxing fun time.

There is a lot more to do on Oasis, there is a more entertainment on Oasis, and a lot more dinning options on Oasis than Explorer. You can't go wrong with either of these ships, I've personally cruised on both but Oasis offers a lot more onboard than Explorer. Also my husbands first cruise was on an Oasis Class ship the Allure of the Seas and he absolutely loved it hands down.

I agree, if I do get off the ship when in Nassau it's only for like an hour or two. The pandemic and subsequent shut down of the cruise industry has hurt Nassau and many local businesses and tour operators in Nassau have not returned so there is even less to do while in port. In my opinion outside of renovating the actual port the Bahamian Government has done nothing to reinvigorate Nassau and make it a city people actually want to explore. The last cruise my husband and I took in2022 we actually did get off and decided to walk around the city of Nassau nearly every 3 out of 5 businesses were closed and or boarded up. What has the local government or even the Bahamian National government done to entice people to come back and reopen their businesses. Cruise ships are back but I see no reason to get off the ship and spend my tourist dollars. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money and outside of rebuilding the port, it doesn't seem like any money has been spent in reviving Nassau. Then there is Paradise Island which in my opinion is overrated and over priced after visiting it a couple of times I'm like I'm over it. I think Nassau has long leaned on the allure of Paradise Island to get people off cruise ships and now a lot of repeat cruisers find themselves staying onboard because Paradise Island is on the decline.

When they send you the email it will contain all levels you can bid on. Don't get into a bidding war with yourself. Just put in a price you believe is reasonable, and a price they will accept and leave it. Also keep in mind since you said your cruise leaves in 2 months, that is spring break season ships will for sure be fuller during spring break if you want a real shot at that grand suite your bid has to be realistic. I noticed you said you have your hopes up for a grand suite. If that really is the case and the price is right you might want simply consider calling your travel agent or Royal directly and upgrading to the grand and avoid RoyalUp game all together.

Quick question What is Carnivals secret to their success out west of of LA where later this year they will be running 3 ships (Miracle, Radiance and Panorama) out of LA to basically the same markets. The exception is they have several 8 night cruises on Panorama that adds a destination not found on any of their 3, 4, 5, or 7 night cruises.

I understand what you're saying but if push comes to shove and Royal deems China isn't ready for an Oasis Class ship by the fall of 2024 there will be 6 Oasis Class ships setting sail from somewhere here in the US probably from somewhere in Florida. I doubt the parking situation is any better at PortMiami or Port Everglades and I doubt seriously Royal would have 2 Oasis Class ships departing from Galveston. I think Harmony stays in Galveston. Icon and an Oasis Class will sail from Miami Odyssey and an Oasis Class will sail from Fort Lauderdale Allure 3 and 4 night cruises from Port Canaveral Two other Oasis Class ships will set sail from Port Canaveral doing 7 night cruises. Is there any off site parking cruise guest can use if this situation were to come to fruition where there are essentially 3 Oasis Class ships setting sail from Port Canaveral? Living in Chicago I always fly to Florida for a cruise so parking has never effected me. But is there parking off site where Royal could perhaps run shuttles if need be?

If everything going forward remains on schedule Utopia isn't scheduled to be delivered until sometime in the spring of 2024. Royal would probably leave Utopia in Europe for the 2024 spring/summer season meaning the earliest Utopia might be relocated would be fall of 2024. Again this is assuming the construction schedule doesn't take a hit. So Royal has time and doesn't need to make any decisions about China for at least another 6-7 months. If Royal needs more time to make a decision about Utopia they could send Utopia to the US for the fall/winter season 2024/2025 after spending the spring/summer season in Europe. Allure most likely will continue doing 3 and 4 night cruises during the fall/winter 2024/2025 season Utopia or any other Oasis Class ship could easily set sail out of Port Canaveral on Saturday. Royals schedule out of Port Canaveral terminal 1 could look something like this; Allure on Fridays, Utopia on Saturdays, Wonder on Sundays, Allure on Mondays.

You might be on to something there, back in 2019 the cruise industry in Singapore welcomed over 1.8 million guest onto cruise ships out of Singapore. Many of the non-local guest came in from China, or Southeast Asia including India. In addition to the local Singaporean market both China and India were largest groups to set sail on cruise ships out of Singapore. But it is obvious the local market the few tourist who did come in 2022 are not enough to sustain this industry in Singapore. In 2019 Singapore as a whole had over 19 million tourist visit the nation. In 2022 the number of tourist who visited Singapore was a measly 4.6 million. I can not find any official numbers yet on how many people took a cruise in 2022 out of Singapore but if they only had 4.6 million tourist visit the nation I think it is safe to assume they didn't get anywhere close to the 1.8 million passengers the industry saw in 2019. From Japan down to Southeast Asia I think the recovery of the cruise industry and how quickly that recovery takes place depends on China. Many businesses from the cruise industry to the airline industry are all trying to pull rabbits out of their hats to make a few bucks throughout Asia while they wait for the recovery in China to begin with the hopes that China's recovery will then lift all boats through the whole of Asia.

I don't think there is much to talk about when it comes to Utopia. Oasis Class is my favorite class of ship (I just booked 2 days ago a last minute cruise in February on Symphony), so I'm not throwing shade but she will be the 6th Oasis Class ship to set sail. I'm not sure there is anymore groundbreaking Royal can do with Oasis Class. While there have been some minor variations when first launched between Oasis/Allure, and Harmony, then Harmony and Symphony, then Symphony and Wonder. I think Utopia will in many ways resemble Wonder it may or may not have more suites depending on how crowed Wonders suite deck gets. My one and so far only cruise on Wonder last year the suite deck didn't feel crowed at all. Royal may or they may not want to add a few more suites on Utopia. Also in my opinion when the time comes where Chinese market has rebounded and can support an Oasis Class ship I think either Wonder or Utopia will ultimately end up homeporting in China for the duration of its lifespan in Royals fleet.

Bring back South America, I would love for Royal to cruise out of Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro,

I actually took a 12 night cruise on Anthem out of Cape Liberty in late January 2022, iFly was free for the first session and I booked it in advance through the cruise planner but missed my time frame however they let me reschedule onboard. The first session is free, I think if you want to go a second time then you have to pay for iFly. The Northstar is free only while in port I also booked that in advance through the cruise planner. I'm assuming you're doing the Orlando, Nassau and Coco Cay 7 night cruise in the spring. I like all three of those ports I always find something to do either through the ship or on my own in Orlando and Nassau. My only complaint about Orlando is Royal doesn't give passengers enough time while in port. I wish the ship would arrive at Port Canaveral at 9 or 10 am instead of the current schedule which has the ship arriving in the afternoon.

NCL just announced service cut back beginning January 8, 2023. For any passenger not staying in a Haven Suite their housekeeping will be reduced to once daily across the entire fleet. NCL will roll this change out over the next few months but expects the roll out to be done by March 31, 2023. NCL is claiming they are making this change to be more environmentally friendly and that may be part of the reason but according to Cruise Hive this move is nothing more than a cost cutting move, which will save NCL an unspecified amount of money. As this change is rolled out there is some good news and bad news for NCL employees. NCL has Stateroom Attendants and Junior Stateroom Attendants, as these changes are rolled out NCL will phase out the Junior Stateroom Attendant position in accordance with the employees contract this will result in a slight pay increase for all current Junior Stateroom Attendants. However for NCL employees who already are Stateroom Attendants according to Cruise Hive they will see their pay CUT. Right now Stateroom Attendants on NCL ships make more money than Junior Stateroom Attendants, this new change will result all Stateroom Attendants making the same amount of money. Those who have already been promoted to Stateroom Attendant through dedication and longevity are about to see their paychecks get smaller a notion that probably isn't going to go over well with some long term NCL employees. All of this despite the fact NCL is raising gratuities across the board for all passengers in non-Haven suites to $20 dollars beginning January 1st, to $4 dollar per person per day increase. Passengers in Haven suites will see their gratuities increase to $25 dollars per person per day but thus far Haven passengers will NOT see a decrease in service to their staterooms. Cruise Hive speculates this move by NCL could result in fewer stateroom attendants since they would only be cleaning rooms once a day. Lets not forget NCL just a few weeks ago announce a 9% reduction in its shoreside staff in a similar move that was painted as a benefit for passengers. https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-cuts-back-on-passenger-service/91452 With cruise fares being up across the board, I think the last thing people want to see are these cuts to service while having to pay higher gratuities. I completely understand cruise lines took on a ton of debt to stay afloat during the pandemic and entire shut down of their industry but with all of these service cuts on top of the increases we've seen in cruise fares, gratuities, beverage packages ECT are cruise lines running the risk of delivering themselves a self inflicted wound? As popular as cruising has become over the past 11-13 years customers could easily revert back to other types of vacation if they perceive that cruising is no longer the value that really help grow the industries popularity. I'm a cruise loyalist, I enjoy cruising right now the price isn't a deterrent for me. But can this industry with all of these mega ships, new ships survive off loyalist alone or do they need to keep attracting new customers and repeat customers who may not necessarily be loyalist like many of us on this site are?

Southwest has hubs in ATL, BWI, MDW, DEN, HOU, BNA, OAK, PHX, and STL, they don't like to call them hubs but any airport where thousands of passengers make connections on the same carrier every day is a hub. There CEO says its going to take a week to get things back on track so for anyone who has a cruise leaving over the next 2-4 days flying out of Southwest I hope they have a back up plan to reach the port. Today Southwest has canceled 2,362 flights, it is a slight improvement over yesterdays 2,510 flights that were canceled, which was an improvement over the day before where 2,749 flights were canceled and the day prior over 3,000 SWA flights were canceled. It is slow, tedious work because Southwest thus far has refuse to update their crew scheduling technology all of it has to be done manually which is mind boggling that an airline the size of Southwest was still doing crew scheduling and crew tracking manually. I've have some flight attendant friends who work for Southwest who were literally on hold trying to get through to crew scheduling for over 30 hours. I work for a different carrier in Chicago and when I walk past our crew scheduling department at our WHQ it always looks like organized chaos, nonstop phone calls and that's with the help of automation and technology. I can imagine what is going on right now at at both pilot and flight attendant crew scheduling for Southwest where they are having to do all of this manually.

Airlines began those early morning flights to LHR for business travelers. Since the pandemic there are a lot less early morning LHR flights out of NYC (JFK and EWR (yes I know EWR is in New Jersey )) than there were pre-pandemic. However one of the main benefits of taking one of those early morning flights out of NYC is you don't have to wait for a hotel room and it kind of keeps your body on a schedule your use to. The downside was pre-pandemic those early morning flights were a lot more expensive than flights that leave in the afternoon/evening. I don't know if that is still true now as there isn't as many business travelers today as there were in 2019. If you are looking at an afternoon/evening flight just know you will arrive at LHR in the morning and your hotel room will NOT be ready, especially if your flights arrives into LHR around 5 am, 6 am, 7 am. People haven't even checked out of their rooms yet at that early hour so what you will have to do is just leave your bags at your hotel and go out and see the city grab some breakfast and do whatever you want as you wait for check-in to begin. To get from LHR I would suggest taking the Heathrow Express and as far as getting around LHR you don't need a car, Uber or Lyft the Underground which is an extensive subway system that can get you all over London. There are multiple ways to reach Southhampton from London, you can do a private car if you like but if you are looking to save a few bucks there is also a train from London that goes to Southhampton Central Station and from there it is a short taxi or Uber ride over to the cruise port. As far as what to see or do while in London I can't answer that because I don't know what peaks your interest. What I will say is London like New York has something for everyone it is an absolute fun city to spend a few days exploring. At the end of your cruise I would suggest booking a private car because there are no trains that take you directly from Southhampton to LHR (you will have to switch trains multiple times and if you have suitcases that won't be fun at all). And please do NOT book a tight connection give your self more than enough time to not only make the drive/ride to LHR but then go through all the check-in and departure procedures.

That is another great question. Clearly it takes longer to clean a 2 or 3 bedroom 2 bath suite verses a standard balcony but I am also wondering how many suites is a steward responsible for verses a steward who is responsible for balconies, oceanview or interior cabins, and what is the difference in take home pay for each? Like someone else stated and I 100% agree with, I hope the stewards will see an increase in their paychecks as a direct result of the increase gratuities. I hope this doesn't just end up going towards NCL's bottom line.

Norwegian just announced they are raising gratuities by 25% for most cabins. For passengers staying in non-suite cabins the new rate on January 1st will be $20 dollars per day per person a $4 dollar per day per person increase. For passengers staying in the Haven suites their new rate will be $25 dollars per day per person that represents a $5 dollar per day per person increase. For a family of four traveling together this translates into $700 dollars in gratuities if they are staying in the Haven on a typical 7 night cruise. Granted if you are staying in the Haven you probably can afford $700 dollars in gratuities but according to The Points Guy the high price or gratuities is a level not seen in this segment of the cruise industry. Also this will be the second time in just 9 months that NCL has increased their gratuities prior to this announcement NCL had only increased their gratuities by $.50 to $1.50 per person per day depending on cabin. According to the article NCL will allow guest who hare unhappy with their service to adjust their gratuities but they can only do so onboard, in person after speaking to someone at guest services. NCL also announced they are increasing the price of several onboard items like their Unlimited Open Bar package will increase to $138 dollars per day. And customers who get the free drink package as part of their promotion when they book an NCL cruise will have to pay a 20% bar gratuity on "free" drink package. NCL is also raising the price "free" drink package so the 20% gratuity that customers have to pay (which is separate from the cabin gratuities) is also going up. Also I don't know if this is a new change or not but the free onboard wifi which passengers can select as part of their booking promotion will be limited to a total of 150 minutes. That is about 2 hours 30 minutes worth of free internet on a 7 night cruise. Norwegian and other cruise lines have said the high cost of food, liquor, fuel, and other supply chain/inflation issues are behind the latest increases in fees. Even though Royal just hiked their gratuities will we see Royal and other cruise lines follow NCL's lead and hike their gratuities by $4 dollars and $5 dollars per day/person depending on cabin? https://thepointsguy.com/news/norwegian-cruise-ship-gratuity-fee-hike-2023/

If you fly internationally a lot, Global Entry is definitely worth every penny. You save a TON of time using Global Entry if you are reentering the U.S. at airports like MIA, ATL, JFK, EWR, BOS, ORD, DFW and LAX.

If I'm not mistaken I think both Oasis and Allure have retractable stacks, I don't know about the remaining Oasis Class ships.

Highly unlikely that Utopia would set sail from Cape Liberty in 2024. With the ship scheduled for delivery in Q2 2024 it is far more likely Royal would have Utopia homeport out of Barcelona and Civitavecchia for the entire spring/summer season before moving Utopia to Florida in November of 2024. It is far more likely that an Oasis Class ship already here in America will find its way up to New York and Cape Liberty in 2024.

Do you see Royal keeping these smaller ships in their fleet once they past 30 years in service? I don't the first thing about cruise ships and how long their life span typically is before the originally owner retires the vessel. However in the airline industry which I'm very familiar with most major carriers in the US do retire their aircraft between the age of 25-30 years. Some of these aircraft find new operators in other countries some of these aircraft are turned into Coke or Pepsi cans. Which is why I ask the question do you think Royal would keep these aging vessels in their fleet once they past 30 years in service? Another reason many major carriers retire aircraft which are over 30 years old is because once an aircraft hit 30 years in service your maintenance cost on that aircraft increase dramatically. Maintenance cost go up when an aircraft hits 20 years in service but at 30 years it becomes cheaper for an airline to buy a new aircraft than spend the money on required maintenance. I think earlier in this thread twangster was saying something about maintenance cost, how much more money in maintenance cost will for example Grandeur of the Seas cost Royal once it crosses the 30 year in service mark?

If Royal were to phase out all ships smaller than Freedom Class over the next 5-10 years would they be doing themselves a disservice? Take NCL as example and the Prima Class which is smaller than NCL Breakaway Plus Class it is even smaller than Royal's Freedom Class, and while Prima Class isn't exactly small the fact that it is only slight larger than Royals Voyager Class is a win for NCL. A ship the size of Prima gives NCL options at different ports that could/would disappear from Royals schedule if they continue to go down the road of bigger is better. I understand the ship being the destination, but not every passenger is looking for the ship to be the destination some passengers want to actually visit a destination set foot on dry land and not the same destinations all the time. I 100% agree with twangster about it being the end of the line for Vision and Radiance Class ships. However, if Royal intends on continuing to offer their guest a diverse number of ports I think they need a ship that size wise fits somewhere between Voyager Class and Freedom Class, or they are going to have to spend upgrading ports around the world. If they don't people may or may not take a look at Celebrity Cruises, as Celebrity isn't in the same category or price point as Royal. If Royal continues to go down the bigger is better road this could result in limited ports of call/itineraries . It may have people taking a look/switching over to NCL, especially with NCL's price point being lower than that of Celebrity and a bit closer to that of Royals. Not everyone chooses their cruise based on the ship, for some people there are a number of factors they consider when booking a cruise, including ports of call and price among other things. I hope Royal isn't looking at alienating loyal customers who pick cruises based on ports of call/itineraries, in their never ending quest of bigger is better.

According to several articles Disney has just confirmed they have indeed purchased the 208,000 gross ton Global Dream cruise ship which might have been scrapped after Genting Cruise Lines declared bankruptcy halting all construction on the vessel. According to Disney the ship will have a capacity around 6,000 total guest instead of the 9,000 total guest and Germany's Meyer Werft shipyard is slated to complete the vessel. For now according to Disney this vessel will not be home ported in the U.S., so speculation is Disney might have their eye on Asia or some other international market. Disney expects this ship to join its fleet at some point in 2025. The sister ship of Global Dream which isn't nearly as completed as Global Dream is still slated to be scrapped. https://www.cruisehive.com/disney-cruise-line-confirms-208000-gross-ton-global-dream-purchase/87955 https://thepointsguy.com/news/disney-cruise-line-ship-purchase-global-dream/ Luckily Royal has a 6th Oasis Class ship being built and 3 Icon Class ships. I think Disney wants a piece of the Asian market especially once China allows cruising to resume. Royal will definitely need an Oasis/Icon Class ship to take on Disney and their unnamed 208,000 gross ton new cruise ship.