XtremeGK

Sad, but CocoCay is still on my list. Had 2 cruises miss when it was a tender port, and a third once the dock was built. Weather (specifically, wind) just never cooperated.

Aside from that, a Norwegian fjord cruise and a transpacific (cruises moreso than ports, I know) are the top of my wishlist.

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Yes.  I know many couples that designate one person to be the tribute and cruise solo in order to advance the team collectively.

Some people even put the person with highest count in a suite by themselves then they book a cheap interior for the other person.  On board they get an extra key for the suite and stay in the suite, leaving the interior unoccupied.  This works better once you reach 340 and get the reduced single supplement.  Solo in a suite is 3x points.  

The point is, designate one person to lead the charge and carry the team to victory... so to speak.

The only reason my wife even considered giving her blessing to a solo cruise for me in May is because the points (thanks to solo cabin & double points promotion) will get me to Diamond. With that, we won't need to buy drink packages on our 9-night cruise we're planning for next year (she is far from Diamond on her own). The cost of me going solo on a 4-nighter this year is less than half of what the drink packages would cost us next year. 

"Hey hun, can I take a cruise to save us some money?" 

2 hours ago, Scoular said:

To follow up on this, it’s $3400 extra, so just shy of $5300. Is that a lot for a JS? I feel I got my balcony for such a good deal at $1850 for 8 nights. 

You got a pretty good deal there at $1850. Personally, I wouldn't spend the $3400 on a JS -- just not enough upside, especially when I could put that money towards excursions. Alaska is so much about the sights and the destination, I'd put the $$ towards those experiences. In the Caribbean? I'd put the money into the suite and the experience on the ship.

The email in the 2nd post quite clearly states that it's notification of cancelling the HK sailings. A whole lot of nothing here, folks.

You can find a handful of rooms in each category that are marked as capacity for 5+, which will have a sofa bed + Pullman. The Ultraspacious rooms are great (they have bunk beds), but come at a premium -- you're almost certain to find connecting rooms within the same type (OV, balcony, etc.) cost less than the 1 US room.

For examples on Allure (each of these videos either has the Pullman pulled down, or you can see where it is in the ceiling) -- you'll note each of these are marked as 5+ on the deckplans:

Boardwalk Balcony - 12729: 

Central Park Balcony - 12179: 

Oceanview Balcony - 12316: 

Oceanview - 3180 (only OVs I see for 5+ are on Deck 3): 

2 hours ago, Cameron said:

Also Cruise Mapper has even more information on their key.  Just go to https://www.cruisemapper.com/deckplans and select Royal Caribbean, Ship's name, then look at the various decks.  Hope it helps.

I would NOT use CruiseMapper's key -- they have some of the symbols completely reversed. For instance, they say that the triangle symbol represents a sofa bed and the asterisk is a room with a Pullman. In fact, that is the opposite. The triangle represents a room with a capacity of 3 -- regular bed + single Pullman; the asterisk represents a room with a capacity for 4 -- regular bed + double sofa bed.

In my experience, any room that is marked for 5+ will have enough sleeping arrangements to separate the two teens. They do not have a single sleeping "apparatus" for more than 2.

Really wish I could remember the name of it now, but a little cafe in an alleyway near the town square in Ponta Delgada. The chef/owner had never left the island, learned English by watching cartoons, and delivered a top-notch tuna steak.

Also took a food tour in St. Kitts -- in the back of the art gallery, the owner's daughter baked up a dessert for us that was absolutely phenomenal. On the way back to the ship, we stopped by a street BBQ (made using a half-oil drum) that rivaled anything I've had in San Antonio.

Explorer will feel like an older ship, especially compared to Harmony...but the ABC itinerary is always a fantastic choice.

45 minutes ago, kittenmom said:

Interesting question arose this morning via a FB chat.  How does Royal handle someone with a medical "mask exemption"?  Does it vary based upon original port (United States versus Europe).  How would other passengers feel?  I've tried to research this but can not find anything definitative other than "contact Royal directly".

That is definitely something to call Royal directly about. There are a very limited set of circumstances in which medical exemptions for masks can be considered, but they are very few and very far between (far fewer exemptions than most anti-mask people like to believe).

4 hours ago, twangster said:

The CL are probably safe since most of the time these are booked by couples so while it can sleep 4 they don't seem to aggressively enforce it for these suites.

Family JS is a suite I'd be more concerned with.  During a peak period like March break or the summer I would not be surprised to learn they kicked a solo out of a family JS (or any J3).  That doesn't mean it's guaranteed to happen but if revenue mgmt thinks they can get a new booking for a family of 5 in a JS occupied by a solo they'll move you to a J4 if there is one.  

When I booked our May 2022 cruise, the cabin with two could select a JS or above that slept 3+. Only interior, OV and balcony were limited to the double occupancy.

9 hours ago, JSB_Z51 said:

Was hoping to see Bayonne NJ itineraries.  So still waiting here.

I have a feeling that's going to be a while (my gut says March-ish, and Oasis & Adventure up here again for Summer 2023).

9 hours ago, Snowchaser said:

Great, thanks everyone for the info!  I guess I hadn't thought about just making her a no show but that's a good idea if Royal wants a fare increase for dropping her.  I was getting a little nervous with current prices for our booking at almost triple what we paid.  I will give Royal a call and see what they say.

 

 

Thank you for the kind words!  In reality almost all her classes are AP, so that with also trying to decide on a university for next year really has been a bit much.  I really don't know where she gets her drive from as her parents were average students at best.  I kind of wish she would throw a party while were gone........but I think there is about a 0% chance of that happening. LOL

I know her type of student very well...and my best recommendation: have her talk to her teachers about getting assignments to take on the trip. There is a lot of stress in the coming months she will face and having a getaway could be really useful for helping her recharge her batteries, reduce some of the stress and help keep her from burning out.

That just doesn't seem practical. It has to go the long way to get over to the Pacific, and there's too much uncertainty elsewhere in the Pacific for her to have a home port outside of the Alaska season. Nevermind the fact that they'll have to take a month-plus and bring her back the long way to the East Coast, as the test drop for Caribbean 2023 showed her in Miami.

Serenade has a 7-night sailing departing on 9/18/22.

Agree, Royal IT.

1 hour ago, Vlad said:

It's simple... 

Royal Caribbean have no idea what's going to be in Europe in 2023... 

Plus don't forget, the contract says that they have full rights to change everything! 

Both ship and itinerary. 

I think it's far more likely a technical issue than knowing what ships are going where in 2023. The amount of time it takes to organize all of that stuff and coordinate port bookings...that process has to be well underway.

They did a test load. Then they postponed last-minute last week for one week, and postponing again now last-minute (which makes sense to push until after the holidays given I'm sure they will be stretched for staffing the next couple of weeks). Given their IT history, this screams to me of a technical issue with loading the full slate.

19 hours ago, Funeegal said:

Glad to know I am not the only one!

We're planning to take our 3yo on a cruise with his grandparents in 2023...I'm 14 points shy of Diamond.

That helped me convince my wife to book a 4-night Canada cruise for this May -- me solo in an interior, her and our son across in the hall in an aft JS. 4 x 2 (solo) = 8 x 2 (double points promo) = 16 = Diamond for 2023.

It's especially valuable for us as my wife didn't start cruising until we started dating, so she's far from Diamond on her own.

23 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

It shows up if you search just for transatlantic sailings.

But the date clashes with the 8-day April 22nd sailing that's visible on your screenshot. 

 

It shows up...but is it bookable?

19 hours ago, Ontariocruisers said:

We just did the Mrs first cruise and my 3rd but first on RC. Did the 4 day to Coco Cay and Nassau out of Miami on the Beautiful Freedom of the seas. The flying from Toronto was horrible. Our next cruise will be driving to Bayonne. I think we will start with the Halifax 4 day and then do the Bahamas 5 day. 

 

Neither of us have been to Halifax so even though it's Canada I think it will be great still. We sure liked the Promenade room!

Bayonne-Halifax 4-day is a great cruise. If you're looking to do a 5-day out of Bayonne, look more at the Bermuda than anything further south (and try to avoid the first and last cruises of the season, as it will much cooler). The 7-day Bahamas cruises are pretty meh if you've been to Nassau before (CocoCay is the selling point for those), but the 9-night itineraries are (IMHO) the best Bayonne cruises out there.

1 hour ago, Vlad said:

Icon isn't planned to debut at least until fall 2023. Or later.... 

So many answers should be answered in next couple of weeks, when they release Europe and Caribbean 2023 itineraries. Probably till fall 2023.

Agreed. I wish we at least saw the deployment schedule to know which ships are going where. Genuinely interested which ship(s) will be homeporting in Cape Liberty in summer 2023.

Not to be the bearer of bad news...but if you paid a $200 deposit and not $300 (your credit card transactions can answer that), then you only booked for 2 people. As your screenshot shows, 3 people is a $300 deposit.

5 hours ago, Vbrandt said:

SF Bay Area. But this is also over Spring Break.

I know you said you're using points, so obviously that's your best bet there...but I'm stunned you can't JB or UA for under $300pp. A cursory look in March & April was almost all under that. Must be hitting the perfect (worst possible) days.

50 minutes ago, karl_nj said:

I live in NJ and find domestic flights out of EWR to generally be somewhat more expensive compared to LGA.  UA sort of has a monopoly there, so they can charge whatever they want.

Yeah, more expensive than LGA...but $1k to CA just seems obscene, even for UA. I fly them quite often and can get to most CA airports for well under $500 RT, even on the premium transcon routes.

12 hours ago, Vbrandt said:

When we priced out flights from CA to EWR it was going to be $1k round trip x4. $4k vs paying $5.50 in tax x4 for using points was a no-brainer.

Yikes. Where in CA? I'm a little bit surprised because there's a good bit of competition on the NYC-CA routes (especially EWR and JFK).

Uber is going to be the simplest, most convenient way. And probably the most expensive.

You can make your way to Manhattan, take a train, then Uber...but do you want to do all that with luggage? 

It's a shame SW pulled out of EWR, especially with the new terminal getting closer (Terminal A really is one of the worst in the country).

Not sure if they provide them or not, but we bought these for our just-turned-3yo, and they work really well. 

Amazon.com : Serta Perfect Sleeper Inflatable Bed Rails for Toddlers & Kids with Foot Pump (2 Pack), White : Baby

On 11/4/2021 at 9:56 AM, CrimsonCruiser said:

I didn't want to make a new thread on a similar topic so I hope its okay I drop this here - what are our thoughts on Allure getting that missed amplification in before Aug 2022? >.> asking for a friend.

Given she has cruises booked all the way through then, I'd say slim. They'd have to cancel at least 10-11 sailings, maybe more. I just don't see them doing that on such short notice.

I do think it'll happen before her next scheduled technical drydock, which should be in 2025. I don't think they'll wait that long...but I could be wrong.