Happy Cruisers

Beyond it becoming the most affluent consumer base in the world. But 'Merica.

Excellent, enjoy your trip, my friend. And remember, if they try to charge a Euro to go 10-100, just crawl under.

Hey Bandit, That may be a good bottle to buy at home and bring aboard yourself if you want to save a few bucks. Or send the bill to Big Enus Burdette... (I assume your username is a reference to that 70s masterpiece...)

One of the Icons will probably go straight from shipyard to China - maybe Icon 3, maybe another one depending on how things go there.

Nothing new, but cruise pricing has changed dramatically since the pandemic, certainly in the last two years. In late 2021, we started planning a multi-generational trip intended to be on Icon with extended family for when it launched. Long story short, we still took the trip in January 2024, but the family is instead just back from a land-based trip to Grand Cayman and saved quite a bit of money over Icon in doing so (AirBnb is great when it works out well). Recent comments from Bayley suggest that there is enough sustained demand that pricing won't be returning back to pre-pandemic levels anytime soon, at least with respect to the most-desirable ships and itineraries. We can all complain about it like we do taxes, discourteous drivers and all the other things in life that don't change to suit us - or, if its not worth it to you, do what we did: take your vacation time and dollars somewhere that offers a better value proposition for your travel party, whatever that may be to you guys. Honestly, it was nice not to worry about getting a package for this, a package for that, deciding where and what time we're going to dinner on a Wednesday night that is 6 months from now, waiting for the elevators, dealing with chair hogs, tiny rooms and inconsistent service/housekeeping, terrible on-board dining options, being constantly hit up for even more money in tips... it was like we were on vacation or something! Oh, and we weren't making our 1000th trip to Cozumel, St. Kitts, etc... The company makes a lot of noise about comparing the price of a cruise relative to the price of an equivalent land vacation (probably some fuzzy math in there somewhere, too), but a cruise vacation and land based vacation are not fungible replacements of one another. Cruising offers advantages (mainly economical in nature, but often also logistical) over land based vacations, where we find land based vacations offer significant advantages over cruising. After this trip, the evidence is in: it'll be quite some time before we consider a family cruise again.

Yes! That is literally what this made me think of before I wrote my comment, @smokeybandit. Bob Crandall's handiwork. Companies in need of capital are more than glad to sell you a "lifetime" pass for something, then pluck it away from you years later - either directly or as part of a trip through the bankruptcy car wash (I think that's how AA did it back in the day, but that's been a few years) when times are better.

I would do the 3x dining package and focus it where it has the most value. For example, the dining package is usually a great deal for Chops and Wonderland, but mileage varies a bit depending on what one orders at, say, Izumi or Playmakers. I suspect you'll spend less than you might think at both those places if you go a la carte (i.e., without a dining package). If you're going to try Giovanni's one night, I'd recommend using the package - the food we were served during both our visits on Odyssey last May was not worth the cover in our opinion.

No way in the world that "lifetime drink package" doesn't get cut out, or at least pared back, over time, for one justification or another. Buyer beware and get that commitment in an enforceable contract. You know, to the extent anyone was seriously considering buying this.

I think it depends on how much of an undertaking getting to the port is for you, to @WAAAYTOOO's point. I guess it also depends on how much to you a cruise fare is to begin with - some people reach to pay for an interior cabin, while others could live in the $80k a week family cabin on Icon without ever missing the money. Neither is a less legitimate vacationer than the other. Assuming getting to the port isn't prohibitive for some reason, I'd take two cruises over one in a CLS unless you're getting a great deal both ways. Be realistic about what you're getting by booking a CLS. Royal doesn't really execute luxury at a high level (indeed, this level of pricing is very much a new frontier for them), remember; this is more akin to splurging for a suite at the Hilton than splurging for a suite at the Four Seasons. The room is bigger and you'll get a list of benefits that have more marketing cache than practical utility. A cruise itself is a life experience and an opportunity to make the kind of memories with your loved ones that you'll be replaying in your head on your death bed - I would choose creating more vacation memories on the aggregate than paying more for something that - unpopular opinion - at best, will probably be more forgettable than you might think, and fairly frustrating (imagine: paying Four Seasons pricing for Hilton service...) at worst.

We've had Izumi hibachi for a sea day lunch before. It was on Harmony back when it was new, so probably late 2017-ish. That account is so old that it probably isn't all that helpful in real life. Enjoy Icon!

I remain quite puzzled why anyone would make a vacation decision over C&A loyalty benefits. For us, it's a nice kicker against another mass market line if we happen to be in the mood for a cruise vacation and if Royal is a serious option where we're looking to go on that cruise vacation, but it is by no means compelling as between one line or another or one type of vacation or another. Resetting my loyalty account balance after X years if, you know, I hadn't been a loyal customer during that time, wouldn't impact my decision making vis a vis a mass market cruise line. What does impact my loyalty is discrete service by a disciplined staff who value my limited time, and, frankly, an overall high end experience. And come to think of it, that's probably the compelling reason why I have exactly 0 cruises booked with Royal right now - that's just not the game they're looking to play - fine, of course; there are plenty enough other options for us.

Agreed, particularly for OP's itinerary. Beyond showering and sleeping, we spent very little time in our cabin during our European itinerary last summer. Honestly, you'll likely be out exploring - all day - each day of your cruise. The evenings, you'll be trying to do as much as you want to do on the ship while getting ready for the next day. Other than maybe to the extent the natural light will help you wake up a bit more easily in the morning (you know, unless you close the curtains for privacy...), I don't see the value in this. And as someone else said, people can look directly into your cabin when your curtains are open. That fact is really easy to forget in the moment. Probably around two decades ago now (college-ish?), I was booked into a Prominade view interior cabin on a family trip back when those were the hot new thing and I think I might have accidentally overshared some personal details with some innocent passers by at some point Bottom line: I don't think the CP view is worth even a dollar more than the interior cabin on your particular itinerary. Stick to what you initially booked and spend the money elsewhere. Royal will make sure that you have plenty of opportunities to do so.

We took our honeymoon on Royal years ago. The line really made it special with all the shrugs we got when we'd mention it to the crew. YMMV, but in my experience, no one on the ship could care less that it is your honeymoon (and my gratuities reflected that attitude, but that's a topic for another day). So, if you're going to make it special, it is up to you. I'd book the cabin you want to sail in; don't depend on any sort of upgrade, paid or otherwise. Good advice above re: MDR - you don't want to sit with randoms when you're trying to enjoy dinner on your cruise anyway, but much less with your new spouse. Better yet, skip the MDR altogether now that the food is on par with what they serve at a day care and go for a dining package. Two birds with one stone. Book a PRIVATE shore excursion through GetYourGuide or something similar. "Oh my God, you might miss the ship!! You HAVE to book one of the crappy RCCL shore excursions so they'll get you back to the ship!" Maybe well intentioned advice, but the local independent guides would have no business if their guests missed their ships often enough, and Royal's excursions honestly suck by comparison. On the notion of missing the ship, unpopular opinion, but, and depending on where you are, legitimately who cares if you have your paperwork (and everything else you need) and have good backup options available to you (and can afford them, of course). I've traded dinner in a nice port for an interisland flight the next morning - all in, I've paid more for worse dinners, and it's a really fun story - especially for the honeymoon. And if you're in Europe, this is even less of an issue since you can generally hop a ferry or train to catch up with the ship. If you want to do this, when it comes to the cruise line, forgiveness is better than permission - although I did call an hour before all aboard so they wouldn't wait around on us. I guess they could technically cancel your reservation - they didn't ours though. Most importantly, just ignore everything else on the ship. There will be jerks, there will be poor service, there will be problems. Who cares. You're there with your new spouse. Everyone and everything else can kiss your butt, no notes. ENJOY!

Most people are looking for some secret handshake/book at 2:52 am on a Tuesday kind-of-trick to save money on airfare in a way that involves minimal action, but if someone is actually willing to try to help themselves, good standard advice for overseas travel is to search all available international airports, and then as-needed book a positioning flight to get there. And be as flexible as you can with your dates and times, because the logic is very linear; convenience = demand = higher cost. Real world example: We live in a major city and from our local airport can fly nonstop to most of the developed world. When traveling to Rome for our cruise earlier this year, we actually flew out of a major Canadian city (but direct home at the end) and that alone saved us something like 2x more than we paid for the cruise itself. And that savings more than paid for the flight from here to Canada and an overnight at an airport hotel, plus it sort of added an extra destination to our trip. Play around on Google Flights and see how you shake out. It's a pain in the rump, but it is easier to save money than make money.

My friend, I know exactly what you're talking about. It is cheap, exceptionally crappy truffle oil and mostly definitely not real truffles. They had no problem leaving it off when we asked. BTW, if you haven't been, we went twice on a recent 10 day cruise (from Italy, to be fair), and twice left very hungry, frustrated and disappointed. Lots of people on this board love it, and that's great, but neither of our experiences was positive. Godspeed, just please don't pay "sticker price" for this place. In no event did I think either meal we had was worth >$50/head - thank God for the UDP.