XtremeGK

From the late 40's to the mid 50's, the Navy pier in Bayonne was also home to a second naval diving & salvage school...made famous by Men of Honor (most of which is actually not overly-dramatized and based off true events). My first cruise out of Bayonne was in the old terminal (which I reminisce about as we drive past on our way out every cruise now), with the bus ride to the ship. I absolutely love the new terminal, very well organized. I agree with @twangster -- even NCL's largest ships are really outgrowing the pier in Manhattan, so I'm not sure an Oasis class ship could dock there. Having lived in Weehawken previously and watching the ships turn in to those piers, it's a tight fit getting in and out. Also agree with @BrianB -- probably the only downside is not getting the Hudson River sail out.

I prefer west to east, solely as you gain an hour each day rather than lose one.

We're on 8/24/24, so hope you're back aboard by then (or that you just love it so much that you extend out that first Icon contract )

The asterisk and the cabin category (3V vs 4V) are all about capacity, not bed placement. If you want a specific bed placement, definitely see if your options line up with the rooms that have videos available that show the bed location and use that to inform your decision.

Sounds like you did exactly what I would have recommended. For long haul, I look at miles and a mix of miles + cash to see if I can get something more than standard economy. 64k miles for your trip is a good value (as mentioned 1.4 cents is what I'd consider a good value).

He always notes in suites that he doesn't fit in the tub/shower combos. I'm 6'3" and very used to reaching an 8' crossbar. I'd put the ceilings around 7'6" in most cabins.

Wouldn't say loyal, but agree with others that right now, Royal is the line that best suits my/our needs. DW and I sail now with our 4.5-year-old, so the kids programming is important to us, and Royal does that as well as anyone in the market. Does Disney do it better? At a cost, yeah. But I wouldn't rank AO much below Disney, and certainly ahead of NCL and Carnival. Accommodations are also a little more important to us now than they once were. We're simple balcony cabin people and Royal offers us enough variety, with some unique choices for rooms, that we always find what we're looking for at a reasonable pricepoint. Speaking of price, budgets matter in our house and while Royal's pricing is going up, so are other lines. Royal still presents a good value for us. And having reached Diamond, the 4 drinks save us even more as we never buy a DBP anymore. Will I try other lines? If everything aligns, yes, of course. But right now, everything aligns on Royal pretty darn well for us.

Calling at Terminal 1 is entirely dependent on what other Royal ships are in port that day. I'm on a trip in August on Oasis that calls at Port Canaveral on a Sunday, when Wonder is there for turnaround day. We will definitely not be docking at T1.

The legends on CDP are very much outdated. Royal simplified their deck plan symbols several years ago now: triangle = capacity of 3, asterisk = capacity of 4, 5+ box = capacity of 5+, shadowed square = obstructed view. They stopped trying to accurately track which rooms have pullmans and which have sleeper sofas. If you call and ask if a room has a particular setup, 50/50 chance the answer is incorrect -- and yes, I've actually seen it happen. Also, bear in mind that GTY rates for 5 don't exist. Should you call to add the 5th person to your reservation before a cabin is assigned -- which can be quite late in the game -- there is a very real possibility that you will lose your GTY rate for passengers 1-4 and have to book at the prevailing rate for passengers 1-5 (and as we have seen with cruise pricing in the past 12 months, that will likely be higher than it is today). Gaming the system only works until the system games you back.

The ultraspacious balconies are about the size of a JS, so plenty of room. Balconies are a really good size. The deck 11 ones are near the fwd elevators (the ultraspacious OV without a balcony are further forward). Bear in mind that you have to walk forward to get from your room to the aft elevators to start with, so being near the fwd elevators would not really add that much to your "commute."

As a shareholder, I'd want them to make the most money they can. I'm sure they have analyzed and found that a la carte, purchased at higher prices by a smaller percentage of passengers, makes them the most money.

I normally book by price, and daylight does have value to me...but I HATE low deck cabins. I just feel like I notice engines/thrusters/mechanical noise more. I'd probably go OV if it were a forward-facing or other mid-/upper-deck OV. But if we're talking deck 3 and the VB is on a mid-/upper-deck, I'd probably spring the $30 for the deck choice.

Additionally, Royal has a history of using their vessels to help bring in humanitarian aid after natural disasters in countries that have cruise ports.

I have both flown on mileage runs and cruised for the points. Cruised last year only because it got me to Diamond in time for a larger family cruise this year.

Mine aren't available on the app or on the site. I'm wondering if it's just a segment of points that are affected and unable to see their totals/tier.