SVoyager

We are not strangers to cruising.  We have sailed twice with Princess, one of which was a quick 3 day to Santa Barbara and Ensenada Mexico, a 7 day Mexican Riviera, and 3 times with Carnival, a 3 day Ensenada, 7 day Western Caribbean (which was life changing and 1st time in the Caribbean), and a 7 day Mexican Riviera on the Panorama.  So, it was time for something different.  I was curious about why my mom has raved about Royal and why many are so loyal.  My girlfriend and I wanted to start out light on a 4 day Freedom of the Seas May 2nd 2022 to Coco Cay, then Nassau with a 3 day stay for our first time in Miami.  We decided to go bigger and longer for my birthday in November on Harmony for an 8 day Nov 12th to the Southern Caribbean.
Overall I can see why Royal is well liked.  I met quite a few passengers who sail only with Royal.  It was on this sailing where a passenger told me about her Diamond status and 4 free drinks a day.  That alone intrigued me!  Anyhow, the little taste we got definitely makes us want more.  Of course there were some pros and cons but we enjoyed ourselves, after all no ship I've encountered is perfect.  And speaking of perfect, Coco Cay was the main draw and it was amazing!  It was an almost perfect day at Coco Cay, since the weather could have been better.  The Daredevil's Peak waterslide was unexpectedly very intense and I almost couldn't catch my breath.  If it weren't for the climb I would have done it again.  Nassau was cool especially hanging with friendly locals at The Fish Fry.  A worker at Coco Cay educated me on how there are over 700 keys and Islands in that area.  Jeez!!  
Our spacious balcony was roomy and the bed was very comfortable.  Only specialty dining we did was Giovanni's Italian Kitchen which was so delicious!  We love buffets and Windjammer was good for the most part.  Our last cruise on Carnival Panorama the Lido Marketplace was mostly not good.  For example, I've never had bacon that was absolutely inedible!  It actually tasted a little fishy too.  I like fish, but not for my bacon to taste like it.  Main Dining Room on Freedom was also quite good and loved the filet for $16 from Chops.  We will be dining at chops when we sail on Harmony.  
If I had one or two complaints, we feel Royal tends to charge for every little extra but at least those extras are not necessary.  We also didn't care for the loud Reggaetón music playing in the Windjammer.  In my survey I noted that it was a bit too loud.  I guess those 4 day sailings are more of a party atmosphere from what I've heard.  Anyhow, we are really looking forward to our next sailing in November.  It cannot come soon enough!  I'm glad I discovered Matt's channel on YouTube and this Blog.  It helped us out a lot! 
 
 
 
 

I'm presuming they would never go for Bottom 😂😂😂😂

Hello fellow cruisers, got back from my first cruise on Freedom (may 6th to may 9th, cococay and nassau). Absolutely loved it, already planning my next 2 cruises! I knew I wanted a balcony because I wanted my own chill time, reading a book and just looking at the ocean. Was really worth it! (Pictures!) Even had a thunderstorm off in the distance for a good part of the night on the way from cococay to nassau. The views were incredible, stayed up really late just looking at it!

 
So, barely a week off the ship, I was already planning for one, maybe 2 more cruises. Having heard so much about how useful it is to use a Travel Agent, I was thinking of going that route. I am a lone traveler with limited budget so I seek the best deals and adapt my itinerary accordingly. The next cruise had a tighter schedule tho and had to be in november. I had to be in orlando between nov 11 to 13 and wanted to stay about a week there to enjoy the theme parks. The cruise would have been either before or after that date. The other cruise I plan for in 2023 (alaska probably) is really open, no timetable.
So I check for prices for the november trip and I spot a nice balcony on Libery OTS nov14th from FLL about 150$ cheaper than the other 2 ships that sail from miami and port canaveral (4night cruise). I then ask a quote and what I get is pretty much higher prices overall and the agent doesn't see the deal I spotted. Ask another TA, again pretty much the same thing and they tell me its pretty much the price as it is right now and they don't watch for upcoming deals. So I endedup planning this trip by myself again.
I've never dealt with TA before so maybe I don't understand their role very well and my expectations are wrong. I thought that TA could find great deals, warn you should opportunities becomes available, tell you when to get the plane tickets, help you plan your itinerary, know about the destination, suggest places to go to, and help you out should trouble arise. Example of what I would expect: One day I would get a call from my TA saying, "Hey you wanted to go to Alaska? Check this out, the price for balconies on X ship just dropped this week and the ports are great, seems like a great deal, you interested?"
Doesn't seem to work that way. Instead, I could get better deals myself, I can subscribe for price watch sites for the cruise and plane tickets so that I get warned of drops. I might not have the best itinerary tho.
Unfortunately, the fact that I am a lone traveler forces me to be very budget minded. I do understand that TA can't spend hours on a single client but hopefully they would have tools to automate things a bit. Doesn't seem to be the case tho.
 
Knowing many people use TA here, I was wondering if anyone could clarify / help me have the right expectations of a TA. Does my priorities makes it so that TA are not meant for me or was I not lucky with the ones I tried? (sorry if this post might feel like a rant. It is not my intention, just genuinely wish to know more)

Hello fellow cruisers, got back from my first cruise on Freedom (may 6th to may 9th, cococay and nassau). Absolutely loved it, already planning my next 2 cruises! I knew I wanted a balcony because I wanted my own chill time, reading a book and just looking at the ocean. Was really worth it! (Pictures!) Even had a thunderstorm off in the distance for a good part of the night on the way from cococay to nassau. The views were incredible, stayed up really late just looking at it!

 
So, barely a week off the ship, I was already planning for one, maybe 2 more cruises. Having heard so much about how useful it is to use a Travel Agent, I was thinking of going that route. I am a lone traveler with limited budget so I seek the best deals and adapt my itinerary accordingly. The next cruise had a tighter schedule tho and had to be in november. I had to be in orlando between nov 11 to 13 and wanted to stay about a week there to enjoy the theme parks. The cruise would have been either before or after that date. The other cruise I plan for in 2023 (alaska probably) is really open, no timetable.
So I check for prices for the november trip and I spot a nice balcony on Libery OTS nov14th from FLL about 150$ cheaper than the other 2 ships that sail from miami and port canaveral (4night cruise). I then ask a quote and what I get is pretty much higher prices overall and the agent doesn't see the deal I spotted. Ask another TA, again pretty much the same thing and they tell me its pretty much the price as it is right now and they don't watch for upcoming deals. So I endedup planning this trip by myself again.
I've never dealt with TA before so maybe I don't understand their role very well and my expectations are wrong. I thought that TA could find great deals, warn you should opportunities becomes available, tell you when to get the plane tickets, help you plan your itinerary, know about the destination, suggest places to go to, and help you out should trouble arise. Example of what I would expect: One day I would get a call from my TA saying, "Hey you wanted to go to Alaska? Check this out, the price for balconies on X ship just dropped this week and the ports are great, seems like a great deal, you interested?"
Doesn't seem to work that way. Instead, I could get better deals myself, I can subscribe for price watch sites for the cruise and plane tickets so that I get warned of drops. I might not have the best itinerary tho.
Unfortunately, the fact that I am a lone traveler forces me to be very budget minded. I do understand that TA can't spend hours on a single client but hopefully they would have tools to automate things a bit. Doesn't seem to be the case tho.
 
Knowing many people use TA here, I was wondering if anyone could clarify / help me have the right expectations of a TA. Does my priorities makes it so that TA are not meant for me or was I not lucky with the ones I tried? (sorry if this post might feel like a rant. It is not my intention, just genuinely wish to know more)

You need to ask the travel agent before you “hire” them.  And you sound like me, I’d be double checking by running my own mock bookings weekly (or twice weekly as the sales change).
as for your methods, my eyes glazed over.  Here is my analysis  
the popularity of a cruise can impact price as can availability of cabins.  If they are selling a lot of balcony cabins those prices might just go up. The solo “discount” may be on one of those cruises making it cheaper. 
be sure you are adding your C&A number, residence, age, military discounts if they apply every time you are running your numbers.  Also, don’t waste your time on running numbers for 2 adults, it’s your final cost for you that matters.  And, run your mock booking to the shopping cart….the “face value” price means nothing.  There can be discounts applied as you continue and you won’t know until the cart what the final cost is. Finally, “Royal math” has no rhyme or reason. 

Sometimes they are willing to give solo a break and not charge double cruise fare but often they only do that for less in-demand cabins like interior and ocean view so the math works different for some cabins, but only sometimes.
The biggest mistake people make with a mock booking is not going through right to the end.  That applies to all cruises, not just solo.  
Or use a travel agent.

Ahh! The light bulb going off above another new cruisers head that that his/her trip to a tropical paradise is going to be more like a slippery used car sale.
 
Welcome aboard SVoyager!

Wow, I'm definitely keeping that site marked, that was a thousand times easier to get an overview of the different choices, quite detailed too. thanks!!
 
Haha omg, you got me real good on that one!! Thanks. Yeah I hear matt in his videos always talking about getting a travel agent, I didn't because I initially thought that I would be fine to check the website once in a while to see if I would spot a better price. Its a way to always be reminded of the upcoming trip (is that really a positive lol?). If only the website would actually give me the right info easily, it would've been fine but its a bit of a hassle.
I've never really used a travel agent so far, always booking everything by myself, it feels like I have more control and flexibility should I want to change things. Do they actually keep checking the prices for discounts later on or would I still need to check RCI's website for discounts and then call them to have it applied? Doesn't feel like any different than what I am doing right now?
 

Wow, I'm definitely keeping that site marked, that was a thousand times easier to get an overview of the different choices, quite detailed too. thanks!!
 
Haha omg, you got me real good on that one!! Thanks. Yeah I hear matt in his videos always talking about getting a travel agent, I didn't because I initially thought that I would be fine to check the website once in a while to see if I would spot a better price. Its a way to always be reminded of the upcoming trip (is that really a positive lol?). If only the website would actually give me the right info easily, it would've been fine but its a bit of a hassle.
I've never really used a travel agent so far, always booking everything by myself, it feels like I have more control and flexibility should I want to change things. Do they actually keep checking the prices for discounts later on or would I still need to check RCI's website for discounts and then call them to have it applied? Doesn't feel like any different than what I am doing right now?
 

I’m a cruising soloist (Hey! New term!)… I suspect that the algorithms used in setting cruise prices, especially for soloists, are primarily based on the Continuum Relativity Analytical Process, or C.R.A.P, method. Make the price whatever people will pay and constantly adjust it up or down as demand dictates. 
Seriously, I’m sure there’s a reason how they are priced…but I always keep checking to see if the price drops after I book it. But, the best way to do that is…use a good Travel Agent. Let them do it for you…and the good ones don’t charge you a fee, they get their money from the cruise line for bringing them customers…so no cost to you for their excellence, experience and expertise. Good luck!

Welcome to the world of Royal Math. 
Solo can be tricky sometimes because it isn't always straight across the board that you have to pay 200% of the per passenger cruisefare. Plus the various discounts that get applied can affect the bottom line pricing you would be expected to pay.
I have found cruiseplum.com is a good starting point to get the pricing. It's a much more effective way to search and compare sailings in specific timeframes.