dmattinson

I suspect the difference in price is the different transportation required (i.e. bus with a lift) and the extra assistance needs to get scooters/wheelchairs on and off the vehicle. More along the lines of specialized transportation. This is why my wife and I look for cabs and do tours outside of ship excursions because I can usually find a cab driver willing to let me put her scooter in the back of the vehicle provided I do the lifting. Thankfully, I am still able-bodied enough to lift the thing well enough to make it work for us.

Was on Voyager last week in a JS that had the two chairs ziptied but the lounger was free to go up and down. I don't care about the reclining option on the chairs but I honestly wanted it more upright and could not make it go to upright position. 1st world problems...

Whatever they are doing is working because their 1st quarter came out recently and the highlights are: First Quarter 2025: Load factor in the first quarter was 109% Gross Margin Yields were up 13.9% as-reported - Net Yields were up 4.7% as-reported and 5.6% in Constant Currency Gross Cruise Costs per Available Passenger Cruise Days ("APCD") decreased 1.1% as-reported. Net Cruise Costs ("NCC"), excluding Fuel, per APCD decreased 0.3% as-reported and increased 0.1% in Constant Currency Total revenues were $4.0 billion, Net Income was $0.7 billion or $2.70 per share, Adjusted Net Income was $0.7 billion or $2.71 per share, and Adjusted EBITDA was $1.4 billion

They are pushing the Diamond and higher cruisers away...the reason why is because this group typically doesn't buy anything extra. The 4-5 free drinks per day and access to a lounge satisfies most people that they don't buy any other drinks / packages while on board. They've cruised enough and have visited most ports where they don't buy excursions any longer. Some of this group may not even buy their cruise, instead earning it in the casino through Prime offers meaning they spend even less aside from their gambling. Royal created this loyalty model and now they are dismantling it without actually taking it apart but instead chose alienation. If you want to keep giving them money for the sailings, expect for these sailings to be more aligned to the masses vs. the few that have attained status. Just to back-up my comments, here are some details from the RCL financials from FY2024: Gross Fare Earnings: $11.5B Operating Expenses: $12.3B Gross Onboard Earnings: $4.97B Net income post interest and other investment expenses is $2.877B They carried 8,564,262 passengers on unique 54,844,780 cruise days for an average cruise length of 6.4 days, divided over 66 ships Per ship they made an average of $2,877,000,000/66 ships = $43,590,909 per year They made a net profit of $2,877,000,000 / 8,564,262 = $335.93 per passenger (that's on a total revenue of $1,924.74 per passenger) So in the end, their margins are OK but at ~17.5%, not enough to keep from satisfying investors and make up for the rough years where they were losing money and begging for a lifeline. COVID bookings helped them out and people benefited in status increases if they were in the know. But in the end, they forgot these folks and realize that they make more money from people who are new and looking to spend for the extras, including Cococay add-ons and drink packages.

price it out separately - refreshment for both and 1 person, 2 device internet (you will share the internet between two people who can each have 1 device connected at the same time)

update - it processed overnight and it was easy to cancel I'll watch my CC to ensure it refunds but I have until end of month for cycle closing

I have a hanging order - not showing processing, not showing booked, and not able to cancel. It was for Hideaway Beach and Internet as 2 items bought together. I tried earlier and nothing was going through so I used the app. That is the order that is hanging. I rebooked each item as a separate purchase through Safari on my Mac vs. Chrome and they processed through pretty quickly. I'd say if you have something hanging and no movement, it may catch up when they do some system maintenance or it may get lost. Book to ensure you have it with confirmation and watch to cancel if the hung-up one moved to processing and booked.

Be sure to check the menus for the lunch...it changed and now is a limited menu and not the same as the dinner menu as it was previously.

Glad I'm sailing in 2025 on Star in a Surfside family suite and will still get the benefits. If they changed it before then, I would likely have cancelled it and moved my booking to another, older ship and book a suite that gets the benefits. I'm not fond of the location, but we juggled accessible accommodations availability and price of a suite in the decision. The perks of being D+ AND having Suite perks made the pricing worth it, but without the suite perks, over $500pp/day wouldn't sit well any longer.

I agree on the ice show - I honestly feel that the ice shows are the best shows on the ships. And yes, I saw the band in the Music Hall - they drew me in when someone got off the elevator and I heard big horns blaring. They did a "Tower of Power" style show that was pretty good.

Says 2006 and property of "Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd."

Anyone else still have their mid-2000's issued C&A card? (thumb over the member ID)

The description alone didn't make me hot to go see (probably the main reason why we missed it). I also felt the aqua show was just OK (felt the one on Harmony was better with more of a story of a beach resort heist in the 50s) and Effectors II just seemed to go on too long but the visual effects were pretty good.

Just on Wonder last week - was able to book inTENse a couple times as the capacity didn't seem as limited as the main theatre. Main theatre shows were booked once and if you miss it, you are in standby for the next show. Couldn't get to see Voices but did get to see the Effectors II (that theatre was full for an afternoon show).

I was on Wonder last week - one of the FB groups admins was supposed to get married on board but something happened and they "lost" her booking and someone else was scheduled instead. Sounds like they may have switched things up and older bookings may have been lost in the change-over. Hope it works out....