Doug_Texas

We did a 2022 transatlantic on Rhapsody. We absolutely loved the crossing experienced. Less crowding on the ships, more mature cruisers, we made multiple shipboard friends and that’s not normal for us. We sailed from Barcelona to Barbados. It was mid October and every day got warmer and better for the pool. Also we kept picking up an hour of time change overnight as we sailed west. We liked that the beating of the long flight was at the beginning of vacation when we were excited rather than at then end when we are exhausted. We’ve heard from others on the blog who feel totally differently about east bound vs west bound. Our only issue was that 8 sea days on a Vision class ship (Rhapsody OTS) became a bit boring. The small ship provided little diversion from the pool and dining room. The same lounge singer was in the Centrum day after day. So we booked a west bound crossing for 2025 on Independence OTS. Our thinking is that an AMPED Freedom class ship will provide more diversity onboard. As soon as November comes this year and the 2026 transatlantic autumn deployment schedule is released we will book either a Quantum or Oasis class crossing.

I am seeing 7 night sailings on Icon and Star that are running $4,200 for 2 people INSIDE CABIN just with cruise fare and taxes (just the standard caribbean ports from Florida). There are definitely Celebrity 7 night sailings on Edge class for surprising prices (7 night “Beyond" out of Miami for 2 for $1,706 incl tax). It’s not to spur debate about Icon class vs Edge class and there are similar Oasis class vs Edge class examples but the point is that is if there is a point I get 5 drink vouchers on Celebrity there will definitely be some booking shifts in my empty nester family. There are many Celebrity sailings that are really attractive from a ports-of-call standpoint but I can’t go on Celebrity without a drinks package where on RCL the D+ vouchers, 2 bottles of carry on wine, and 1 bottle amenity wine is sufficient.

It’s like Easter egg hunts, it’s for the kids. We never pick one up but frequently point one out to a kid and they are usually delighted. We have a lot of grandkids so appreciate this opportunity for the kids to enjoy something like this. Now it’s a different conversation if they start showing up on adult cruises like Virgin Voyages.

Agree 100%. A little excited and a little nervous with the rumors of revamping and merging RCL and Celebrity loyalty programs.

Perhaps passengers / crew is telling when it comes to service. Regent is 1:1 with under 1,000 passengers and Oceania is 4:3 with mostly under 700 and always under 1,300.

Agree Carnival is terrible. In 2024 they are scrapping Ectasy, Fantasy, Fascination, Inspiration, and Sensation. Good riddance!

I wish more cruise lines would go to the Virgin Voyages approach where gratuities are not even a discussion. It’s frustrating that everything onboard has 18% added or $18 pp/day added then at the end you get the “Tip Tip Hooray” envelopes. I don’t mind taking care of others that take care of you but I am so often confused on RCL. When I started hearing that the daily gratuities were also compensation for back office hotel staff, cabin assistants, laundry staff, kitchen staff, dining room support staff, etc. I just started accepting that these charges should be regarded as a part of the cruise fare.

We have had similar thoughts about our cruising future. We were on Icon and were blown away how great it was. We have 7 RCL cruises on the books and 3 other cruise line bookings. Celebrity / Princess / Holland America helps with your service preference and bumping up to Oceania / Azamara helps even more with fewer guests and better guest to crew ratio (and MUCH better food). There are also RCL strategies that help as well; smaller ships, Alaska, and transatlantic are great. We have Alaska B2B on Radiance OTS which has great open spaces all around the ship with super viewing opportunities. We also have transatlantic on Independence OTS and our experience is the guests are older, fewer kids, less congestion, and better service on transatlantic sailings. The tradeoff is a drop in entertainment / music venues which is my wife's hot button. We are thinking for 2026 an Oasis class transatlantic.

We keep waiting for better ships and itineraries sailing from New Orleans. Our drive is 5 hours to Galveston and 8 hours to New Orleans. Would love 3 days in the French Quarter followed by a quality (not Cozumel / Costa Maya / Roatan) 7 or 10 day sailing!

I have noticed that over time there are more and more areas of high glass on the ships. It makes it difficult to see gorgeous scenery from the ships. I don’t know if it’s because of passenger safety, wind, or both. I wonder if those new bogus “infinity balconies” are a countermeasure?

I have seen some cruiser comments on other blogs that if you try Celebrity make sure it is an Edge class ship as the quality difference is huge. Any commentary from frequent Celebrity cruisers?

Not responding as to Celebrity but as to RCL. We are D+ my wife and I each get 2 free days. I always used both pairs of free days because she isn’t real interested (also we are T-Mobile customers and get unlimited free data at any port of call we visit). When we sailed Icon I could no longer use her free days on my device. A week later no problem on Explorer. You could hack around the issue on Icon by either me logging into the app as her but we would lose messaging each other and not worth the headache. You could also take a 3rd device like an iPad and use that as a work around. Point of the story is sharing husband and wife minutes or free days might have technology interactions depending on the ship.

We have that itinerary on Explorer but on March 30. Zero Puerto Limon excursions on RCL so far. A full compliment of 7 on Shore Excursions Group.

There are a lot of flexible cruise options available in Europe and other global locations that we don't allow in the U.S. I wouldn't want to use this feature often but I have had the situation where I had to get off the cruise ship early morning and my flight is at 10 PM. You don't want to be sightseeing while rolling a ton of luggage around with you. This offering could be invaluable in certain situations. Wish the U.S. allowed it. We were on a Greek Island cruise last summer on a Greek cruise line and almost every port of call there were passengers getting off the ship with their luggage and new passengers getting on. Must be nice for a cruise line to have the flexibility that is not allowed in the U.S.

I was on Icon Maiden and it truly was a set apart experience. I don't mind RCL pricing up significantly for Icon class ships, especially in the first 2 or 3 years. My real issue is that they hiked pricing on the rest of the fleet. I've got 7 booked RCL cruises and the pricing is significantly higher than pre-COVID, way more than inflation. The most interesting thing to me is the squeeze between the mass market segment and the premium segment. For apples-to-apples cruise lengths and ports you can now book Celebrity or Princess for the same price as Royal. Virgin and Holland America are still a little higher. I've got a side-by-side pair of cruises out of Galveston where the 7 day Princess with drink package and gratuities is exactly the same price as Royal with gratuities but no drinks package (I'm D+ so this is an equivalent cruise for me). I'll be interested in my reaction to consecutive cruises to the same ports on different cruise lines. I've got a 15 day Oceania which is definitely higher price as it is a luxury small ship line but their alcohol drinks package is $30 pp / per day including gratuities. If you follow RCL bookings they are definitely not negatively impacted by their huge price increases but I have to wonder if the "empty nesters" move to better alternatives over the next 3-5 years.

Totallty agree, Disney ridiculous!

Sadly, this situation will not be resolved. It has gotten worse over time not better. We went to Sandals Antigua where it is adults only and they told people that you had better put belongings down on beach chairs by 6 am. They were right, by 6:30 everything was staked out. On RCL it doesn’t help that there are over 5,000 passengers competing for 400 pool loungers (or whatever the actual math is). We compete with other passengers to reserve seats for the shows. I see people every morning “reserving” 4 chairs at 7 am. It’s a herd mentality. I think now there are the hogs who don’t care and the non-hogs watching the hogs and getting angry. I’m a lot happier on vacation not using their chairs and loungers at all and not having to think about what others are doing. Get a waterproof pool tote to leave near the pool and let the others battle it out.

We spend the day at the pool but quit using pool chairs/loungers because of the 30 minute vacancy limit. We found ourselves in the pool making conversation and often ended up staying in the water well beyond the 30 minutes. It took a while to get used to not using a chair at all and sometimes it is a challenge where to put towels, sandals, phones, suntan lotion, etc. but it’s the right thing to do as a lot of people want to lay and read or visit in the chair. They should have access to the chairs and loungers. If you are not in it, release it. (RCL, a wall of cubbie holes to put things where they would stay dry wound be nice. I saw something like that on Icon but the location could be improved.)

We dress well because that is part of the experience for us. We have cruised so much with Royal that we are used to the t-shirts, shorts, and baseball caps in the MDR on formal night. We know that dress codes are for the most point useless on a mass market cruise line. My only issue is RCL is continuing to message this "formal night" and "dress to impress" nonsense. They have no dress code for any dining Except Empire Supper Club. Quit telling people that you do have a dress code. Just call those 2 nights "photo nights". Also they enforce 18+ in "The Hideaway" and couldn't care less in the 18+ Solarium. Adjust your messaging and the Cruise Compass to reality so inexperienced cruisers know what to pack.

We've been to Falmouth twice in the last 6 months, the last time was February. Falmouth is a terrible port. Either you can go somewhere close that is poor or someplace far away like Montego Bay. We are not "stay on the ship" people but beach people. We take a taxi ($20 per person round trip) to "Blue Waters Beach Club". The journey is safe but I don't think I would take kids there. It's only 10 minutes away by taxi and inexpensive (the only selling points of the place). The entrance fee is $10 per person and incudes a beach chair. A bucket of four 9 oz Heinekens is $20. It's not a great place but it's a beach.

If excursions are cancelled at least 48 hours before you sail (either by you or RCL) you get refund to original payment method.

I have had no experience with reimbursements after the fact but have had great success on board cancelling for refund before arrival at the port. As soon as the itinerary change is announced my efforts to cancel for a full refund have been honored on the ship before arriving in port. I know this doesn't address your desire for financial compensation after the fact, sorry you went through this.

We've used Viator many times and have been satisfied. We usually check out direct operator bookings first as Viator charges the operator quite a bit. Shore Excursions Group https://www.shoreexcursionsgroup.com/ and Viator are our secondary "go to" resources for shore options.

I got shafted in a similar way when RCL made my Greek island cruise a charter fairly close to sailing. The problem was American Airlines allowed me a credit equal to the airfare paid but only valid for TRAVEL 1 year from the original booking date. I had 4 months to TRAVEL on $4,000 worth of airfare. Since AA offered a short fuse credit RCL wouldn't help bear the airfare expense and neither would the travel insurance company. I think this is a real loophole that should be closed on behalf of paying passengers. The conversion to charter is a a fairly common occurrence with RCL. This practice shouldn't be allowed within 12 months of sailing. I also got burned on a sailing change on Navigator similar to you. I'm on Explorer 6 months after your booking and am crossing my fingers.

I think @AshleyDillo provided a nice response. Most of my travel insurance has been medical insurance so I have less direct experience with claims. I have had a couple of rounds of general travel insurance. I hadn’t seen the provision that @AshleyDillo discussed that provides a flat amount for any itinerary change which could apply here. For more general coverage showing specific financial loss for a covered reason. As others have said RCL provides full refunds for any contacted activity at Labadee so it seems like a difficult bar to meet. There are also usually general coverage exclusions for war, natural disasters, acts of God, etc. that you might evaluate. Itinerary changes are common in the cruise industry and are highlighted in the cruise contract (your ticket). I’ve had it happen 3 times in the last year.