PRC

I have a hard time buying merchandise onboard.  
 
Watches for example:  If you could take the time to add up the "original" prices of the hundreds of watches layed out on that table in the middle of the Promenade, the number would be HUGE!  I then look at this and say 1) if there was really that big a dollar value on that table, would they really have only two employees watching all of it while hundreds and hundreds of people crowd past, pick up, try on, etc?  And then 2) I watch them take all this dollar value, stack it in cardboard boxes, then stack those in a closet.  I know its a closed environment and all, but it just doesn't add up to me.
 
I happen to like Invicta watches.  I know they are not really high end watches (although Royal and Invicta want you to think they are) and the list prices are laughable, but I like them.  That said, I have never bought one on board.  Each of mine have come from Amazon for half or less of the "sale price" onboard. 
 
Sorry, guess I'm in a skeptical mood this evening!  ;)

An "urgently needed" response to 9/11
Not passed till 2005
Not effective till 2008
Overhauled for lack of participation in 2014
October '20 is probably the 100th "deadline"
19 years in the making...doesn't sound very "urgently needed" to me...
 

The "studio" cabins are designed for a single occupant only and receive single points, as there is no supplement charged.
 

I hear the drive down is even better in a Hummer

For me, the single most valuable perk from C&A came at 340 points: the reduced single supplement.  
That said, if I didn't feel happy sailing with Royal, all the C&A perks combined wouldn't have enticed me to continue this far.  
 
 

For me, the single most valuable perk from C&A came at 340 points: the reduced single supplement.  
That said, if I didn't feel happy sailing with Royal, all the C&A perks combined wouldn't have enticed me to continue this far.  
 
 

For me, the single most valuable perk from C&A came at 340 points: the reduced single supplement.  
That said, if I didn't feel happy sailing with Royal, all the C&A perks combined wouldn't have enticed me to continue this far.  
 
 

For me, the single most valuable perk from C&A came at 340 points: the reduced single supplement.  
That said, if I didn't feel happy sailing with Royal, all the C&A perks combined wouldn't have enticed me to continue this far.  
 
 

For me, the single most valuable perk from C&A came at 340 points: the reduced single supplement.  
That said, if I didn't feel happy sailing with Royal, all the C&A perks combined wouldn't have enticed me to continue this far.  
 
 

For me, the single most valuable perk from C&A came at 340 points: the reduced single supplement.  
That said, if I didn't feel happy sailing with Royal, all the C&A perks combined wouldn't have enticed me to continue this far.  
 
 

For me, the single most valuable perk from C&A came at 340 points: the reduced single supplement.  
That said, if I didn't feel happy sailing with Royal, all the C&A perks combined wouldn't have enticed me to continue this far.  
 
 

Casino has its own program that comes with its own perks and offers for more free cruises.  Heads would spin trying to layer that into additional earning of C&A points.  At some point they have to account for every dollar.  What is the cost of a free point based on casino spend when that guest got a free cruise and is already earning C&A points for being on board?
What if I have $400 in OBC and use that on board?  Tracking refundable OBC versus other OBC versus OBC from travel agents versus cash relative to items purchased and tracking costs down to the dollar is not an insignificant effort.  Cruise Planner purchases versus truly on board purchases and keeping track where the money came from sounds easy but it isn't.  
$400 of t-shirts & watches or $400 of artwork or $400 of booze all have different margins and some won't cover the cost of the additional C&A points bundled in.  Royal can hardly handle it now, trying to write a program to track all of that relative to spend to calculate C&A points earned by spend would be a huge undertaking.  
Then guests would get upset.  I used OBC to buy six specialty dinners, why doesn't that qualify?  It's my OBC, it's just like cash.  
Revenue managers on board are accountable to reach revenue targets but now after the cruise is over they have to subtract the cost of C&A points awarded and find themselves short in some areas.  Sounds like a nightmare.
It's slippery slope.  Once you start to deviate from "nights with your head on a pillow" it becomes very confusing for everyone involved.   

This promo isn't going to convert infrequent cruisers to suddenly becoming frequent cruisers booking multiple cruises every year from now until the end of time.  
If someone was booking multiple cruises every year they were already well on their way up the ladder.  
The infrequent cruiser isn't going to crowd the lounge consuming benefits on the ship they aren't sailing on.  Let them be Diamond and if they earn it through this promo so be it.
"Jane and Joe only booked a cruise once every two years but since becoming Diamond they now book four cruises every year" - NOT!!!  However if this was the outcome Royal would be very pleased.  

Not concerned about a vaccine, my deciding factor will be what the "new" onboard experience is.
 

In the county I live in we have a population of 292,406 people. Our Health Department has posted that there have been less than 5 people hospitalized for COVID-19 during last three weeks. Yet we are still stuck under what amounts to house arrest by our Dictator Governor.  

None of this makes any sense anymore.

Not concerned about a vaccine, my deciding factor will be what the "new" onboard experience is.
 

Not concerned about a vaccine, my deciding factor will be what the "new" onboard experience is.
 

Not concerned about a vaccine, my deciding factor will be what the "new" onboard experience is.
 

Not concerned about a vaccine, my deciding factor will be what the "new" onboard experience is.
 

Not concerned about a vaccine, my deciding factor will be what the "new" onboard experience is.
 

Based on the atmosphere at the opened restaurants here in Texas, i cant imagine the policing of very public place on a cruise ship.  
The line for a drink would be from pool bar back to windjammer with appropriate distancing.

Not concerned about a vaccine, my deciding factor will be what the "new" onboard experience is.
 

Not concerned about a vaccine, my deciding factor will be what the "new" onboard experience is.
 

Not concerned about a vaccine, my deciding factor will be what the "new" onboard experience is.
 

Not concerned about a vaccine, my deciding factor will be what the "new" onboard experience is.