Doug_Texas

Some things RCL is unmatched with, like C&A loyalty - the best in the industry. They have also always been a great value for vacations which is why we have been loyal to Royal. But in so many area the two best mass market cruise lines, RCL and NCL, are pushing prices through the roof. The beverage packages are sky high, everything is going a la carte, so many shore excursions are now $300+, etc. The idea that now a strip of adult only sand (+ pool) for my wife and I with no extra food & beverage is $178 (Icon $88.99 x 2) just seems excessive. The “value” seems to be slowly disappearing. A week on Icon is now very similar to a week at Sandals which is a different dynamic.

I find myself at 10 or 11 pm eating the pizza. Not because it is good but because it is available. RCL is not good about food at night. I would always opt for pizza rather than going back to the cabin for room service. My wife will not eat the Sorrento’s pizza. The midnight buffet is overkill. We would however love some late night options for sliders, street tacos, nachos, etc.

Wait, what? We were just in St Maartin last year and never needed our passport. Is this new?

If the take rate on the Millennial beach party is low the price will come down. If the cruise feedback is the DJ is just too much it will tone down a bit. If RCL gets a high take rate at these prices ($88.99 pp on our cruise) for a loud beach party we will just continue to go to South Beach. It is funny that the pricing is anywhere from $50 to $89 and yet they are all "10% off". 10% off what??

This is all very interesting. We've always followed the program rather strictly. I use my BOGO on evening 1 so pay for my meal and my wife is no charge. My wife uses her BOGO on night 2 and my meal is no charge. These alternative approaches are very interesting.

True! The Utopia 4 day cruises hit Perfect Day and Nassau with a sea day in between and those two ports are only about 55 miles apart. Cha ching!

Wow, this is a surprise. My January Icon cruise prices Hideaway at $88.99 pp. I like a relaxing day at the beach and their first sentence in the overview describes it as "the ultimate beachfront party". Looks like fun for the younger crowd. I assume with the "Hideaway Beach Cabana" being "Sold Out" at $2,500 they will have no problem selling $90 day passes. Just as an interesting point of reference - RCL revenues this year will end $10B+ The revenue per passenger cruise day is up 16.6% since 2019 (7/27 earnings call). And their "onboard revenue" (meaning not cruise fare) is 34% of total revenue. Wow, $3.4 Billion this year in cabanas, drink packages, casino, specialty dining, Hideaway Beach Club, etc. And the profit margin for "onboard revenue" is much higher than the cruise fare. This company knows exactly what they are doing. Buy 100 shares of RCL stock and take the $100 cabin credit for every 7+ day cruise you take.

The last investor conference call had a discussion about pricing leverage. The discussion point made was RCCL doesn't focus a lot on their pricing vs other cruise lines, they compare with land based vacations. Historically they were at about 40% of a land based vacation and with their 100%+ booking rates 40% is way too low. They feel cruise lines can significantly increase pricing and still be over 90% occupancy. I am seeing the same pricing outrage about NCL on the cruise bulletin boards. Frank Del Rio is on board with the pricing leverage as well. I often wonder if there had not been a pandemic would this incredible demand curve look the same.

@JasonOasis is correct. IDEMIA, which has partnered with Royal Caribbean to bring its MFACE facial biometric capturing software to Bayonne, Miami, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) and Galveston. We have Global Entry and it is invaluable when flying back to the U.S. At the new Galveston cruise port facial recognition is implemented for everyone (although I don't know about those paper birth certificate people). There is as close to zero wait time as imaginable. Applause for Royal Caribbean!

I understand and appreciate all of the comments regarding the RCL strategy of "family only" and "multi-generational". I love RCL, get great perks, and generally appreciate what you receive for your vacation dollar. I've got 6 upcoming RCL voyages on the books, 1 NCL, and 1 Oceana (will not sail Celebrity). After entering retirement my wife and I have sought out longer cruises and interesting ports. We did a B2B on Quantum class this year that was 21 consecutive nights (and we liked Quantum class - particularly Two70. Watching the Super Bowl in Two70 was really special). We really like both the Freedom and Voyager class ships which used to dominate our 7 day sailings from our port here in Galveston. I could be happy long term with long cruises Freedom and Voyager. Oasis class now dominates the Galveston 7 day cruises and the 7+ nights are now on Jewel. I don't really mind 2004 vintage Jewel (though we really miss the Royal Promenade) as we have had to sail Radiance / Vision class multiple times since Oasis has hit the market. I get concerned about relying on 1997 vintage Rhapsody type ships. I get excited with the rumor that "Discovery" will break the Oasis / Icon streak of megaships. I'm on Wonder in October and Icon in January and am very excited about those sailings. But this will be the exception for us rather than the rule. Really hoping RCL can continue serving the mass market.

I understand that Royal is all in on the 10,000 passenger destination amusement park family ships and there is no doubt they dominate that market. We are sailing Icon and I respect Royal’s dominance in this market. The demand and profitability is through the roof so good for Royal. As we have aged and entered the retired empty nesters group we constantly look for longer and more interesting destination cruises. With Royal that means Vision and Radiance class ships and B2B sailings. That means old ships and a lot of polished brass with limited ship features. As the population ages huge numbers of Diamond + and Pinnacle people will be aging into this demographic. The most flippant response seems to be “just cruise Celebrity or Siversea”. There is no loyalty benefit to crossing to those brands. Even though I have status on RCL and and cruise Royal 80% of the time I don’t find Celebrity compelling and are not interested in the Silversea / Regent price points. I think eventually Royal will have to expand into the other adult segments or lose lifelong customer to other cruise lines.

That’s insane! I know the exchange rate and gratuities make a difference but the U.S. site has around $1,800 on those sailings.

We are on the maiden voyage as well. It has never popped into the dining options so I'm sure it isn't sold out via Cruise Planner sales. Unless RCL is doing invitation only for maiden voyage it should pop in for sale in the future. I called customer service and they knew nothing.

I was on Ovation in Australian waters this last year during Superbowl. RCL did it right in Two-70 and it was a special experience.

RCL says that they open show reservations on the app / web on the 1st of the month before you sail. For our Oct "Wonder" sailing this should have been Sept. 1st but it opened August 31st for booking.

I've been waiting for RCL to decide they won't cede adult travel to the luxury lines or NCL Prima / Viva. The "floating theme park" has served them well but with the aging of the population I'd love them to do an upscale smaller ship targeted at adults!

We've booked tours through Viator and Shore Excursion Group. Viator (Trip Advisor) skims up to 40% from the local operator (but are usually still lower than RCL). Sometimes the operator markets exclusively through marketing companies like Viator but sometimes markets direct. We just finished a private tour of Corinth for two bought through Viator for $325. The company was only paid $220 by Viator. It pays to research. You can screen with Viator and often find their operator and book direct.

My wife and I are in our 60s and usually just go to the close (West) side of Adrenaline Beach. It's before the loud area (further east) and has restrooms, ocean bar, and they can even see the grandkids zip lining overhead.

With a name like "Discovery" I hope it's not an Antartica expedition ship.

We are on Aug 10, 2024 Norwegian Fjords segment.

I am 6'5" and large and have had no problem with chair comfort. I am also on a segment of the World Cruise on the Serenade. This is a strange and unique cruise in that my segment has only one seating in MDR (my segment is 7:30 only). I have never been on another RCL cruise with only one seating. The Windjammer should still be open for extended hours with no seating times or reservations required in the operational hours.

We've had traveling companions have their vouchers stolen in MDR as well. We don't give up our seapass to waiters in the MDR because strangely this occurs. We always cash tip because of D vouchers. In February I was called out on an Australia cruise twice where the passengers said Americans are ruining cruising for everyone because of tipping. Oh well.

I see a lot of chatter about the new Paradise Island CocoCay construction but have not seen any updates on the adult Hideaway Beach at Perfect Day that was supposed to open this year. I've got October and January cruises going to Perfect Day and was hoping it would be open. Upcoming cruises Wonder of the Seas - October 2023, Icon of the Seas - January 2024, Independence of the Seas - February 2024, Serenade of the Seas - August 2024, Norwegian Viva - September 2024, Oceana Nautica - January 2025, Explorer of the Seas - March 2025, Explorer of the - Seas April 2025 Past cruises Explorer of the Seas - May 2001, Enchantment of the Seas - September 2001, Adventure of the Seas - October 2002 Rhapsody of the Seas - May 2007, Navigator of the Seas - May 2015, Norwegian Sun - July 2017, Liberty of the Seas - October 2021, Adventure of the Seas - January 2022, Liberty of the Seas - February 2022, Vision of the Seas - March 2022, Liberty of the Seas - August 2022, Rhapsody of the Seas - November 2022, Ovation of the Seas B2B - February 2023, Viking Modi - July 2023, Celestyal - Crystal August 2023

Liquid hydrogen for use with fuel cells has 31% of the energy density of LNG. If you've seen the size of the LNG tanks for Icon it seems hydrogen fuel cells would not be an efficient option. Also, by the time RCL works logistics for LNG filling at home ports they wouldn't want the expense of starting over again for liquid hydrogen.

We are in! B2B Icon Inaugural and Independance.