ShakeDownCruise

Does anyone know what ships will actually be in Cozumel tomorrow, Friday? I'm on the Disney Fantasy and we are going back for a second time instead of heading back to the US. For the record I have an RCL cruise in less than 50 days...

So I'm curious who else is going on any of the Thanksgiving weekend cruises on Indy, Navigator and Brilliance? A Royal Caribbean Blog role call of sorts for these 3 cruises! I'll be traveling with my wife and two kids (6 & 4). I was booked on Indy, cancelled it about 45 days ago and rebooked today. I paid about $1000 less than my original reservation but I did go from 2 rooms to 1 room with a family of 4. Apples to apples savings was about $500-600. I've never been on a cruise ship on an actual holiday so I was curious if anyone has any memorable experiences from cruises in their past that sailed on Thanksgiving or any other actual major holidays.

Don't sweat it oobeau78! Really the only time a cruise would be cancelled is if they couldn't safely leave the departure port in advance of the storm (Or if the ship decided to stay away from a port because of an expected landfall of a storm). I'm going on another cruise line this week on a Saturday to Saturday western caribbean and I would give it about 35% odds at this point that my itinerary might be affected. No sweat if it is changed though, I actually look forward to the chance that we might end up at an unexpected port that I haven't been to. Last year I was on a 3 night in September and there was a tropical storm coming through so the captain just took us to blue skies away from the storm and we lost out on a day at Nassau. I wouldn't have gotten off the ship anyway so no loss there! Also you could only slightly feel any extra motion on the ship, it was a non issue for everyone I saw including my 3 and 5 year old. I'll take the slightly cooler weather of fall crusing and the lower prices over summer cruising any day. The only downside is situations like this where if you had your heart set on a certain destination it could be modified due to weather. Have fun, I'm thinking about a Majesty cruise in December.

Cwtom, Echoing some folks already, I sailed on Allure in April 2016 with my family of four and I found it less crowded then some other ships I have been on. It sounds like you are a planner as am I. Make all of those reservations and get to the shows at least 15 minutes early with your reservations so you get good seats too. If you are organized I find everythnig rolls along smoothly from one activity that you want to do to the next. Some folks don't want to plan and that's fine for them but those are often the folks that end up getting frustrated as they think they can just do whatever they want to do and just walk in at show time of a main event. Often you still can in this situation but for popular activities you are setting yourself up for some possible disappointment. Also as a plug to this fine blog, research about the Oasis ships on this website. I typically strategically avoid crowds and lines even if the lines might be only minimal. If I'm on the Disney Fantasy I ride the AquaDuck right when I board as much as I want with no wait and then avoid it on sea days. With Allure, we only went to WindJammer a few times off of the high peak times and it was fine. Maybe don't go to WindJammer the first afternoon because it can be a zoo, instead go to Central Park Cafe or another location. We had a great pool afternoon with my 4 and 6 yo on a port day and the same pool that had 100 people in it the day before while at sea was completely empty when we hung out there. The fact that you are going in September should also make this a breeze for you. Have fun! Kids Club is great too! One of my favorite activities on the ship was a family selfie contest where you had 30 minutes to run around the ship getting as as many selfies as you could off of their list. Alas we did not win...but I will be ready next time!

This is a fun activity, me first! All about searching for the deals on their website. Oasis, 09/17/16, neighborhood guarantee, $2114. Also with a $76 onboard credit. This is for a family of four, kids sail free with a Florida resident rate (but the regular rates are only like $50 more.) Also a oceanview guarantee for about $100 more on another sailing in September. There are many sweet deals on Oasis class in September and October. I was so close to canceling my Disney Fantasy cruise for one of these deals but I stuck with the mouse (might be the mouse's swan song for me this cruise...). Fear not though Royal Loyals, 3 Oasis class cruises booked for me in the next 22 months!

Sounds exciting Todd! Best wishes to you and Reynaline! I hope you are able to get some pictures or an update on the boards after it happens so we can hear how it went. Perhaps a Periscope of the event, Ha!

YOLO Booked it! Just put down my deposit for the Harmony group cruise! My wife and 2 kids will be coming with me (7 and 5 at time of sailing). I now have a deposit down on 6 cruises...I need help!

I emailed Royal to ask the answer to this question but thought I'd forward it on to see if any of you might know the answer since Royal didn't respond yet. We will get 2 soda packages complementary for our boardwalk room next year on Oasis but I probably want the Premium Package. Do you think they'll let me upgrade and get a credit for the value of the soda package to use towards the premium package or do you think they will hit me with the full charge for the premium package, thus reducing my perk?

Well I'm sure the suspense was killing you all. I went with Independence for my Thanksgiving booking. It was a bit less expensive and I probably have to work on Wednesday morning so that ruled out Navigator. Thanks for your input.

I greatly appreciate all of the suggestions and opinions. I can (and will) read and research all about these ships but it's fun to see what other folks think. Between vacation time and school calendars I need to do a 4 day cruise this time otherwise I would definitely upgrade the length of the cruise. I'm going on Oasis next March but that's too far off! I think I've eliminated Brilliance and am now down to Navigator and Indy. I think I read no Izumi on Indy, how is Jade sushi? On the other hand Indy has Grease which would be fun. No bad choice of course as others have said!

So my family of four (kids 6 and 3) is ready to book our first Royal Thanksgiving cruise. I'm conflicted on choosing between Brilliance, Indy and Navigator. I live in Orlando so Briliance is most convenient out of Tampa, Indy I would think has the best variety for the kids and then Navigator is Matt's favorite ship so what is a family to do! It's always fun to hear opinions so let me know if you have any. Thanks

You bet I've done this and on Royal too. My first cruise ever was on the two Sovereign ship (Sovereign & Majesty) adventure known as the Dave Matthews Cruise. The ships ran low on booze at times and there was a near hurricane during the attempted performance in Nassau. I could tell a long tale about this wild adventure. Other than a few hurricanes that I actual went through in Orlando this was one of the worse storms I ever was in the middle of. Unfortunately I think Dave was so scarred by this crazy cruise that they haven't done a real one like this sense.

dejagatkins, We need to discuss the elephant in the room before you go. What's the story with the little lady in your photo?

It's easy to spot if you have one. They show up as a banner right over the image you would click on in the cruise planner when picking a package option. If you don't see it at this time there aren't any deals for your sailing unfortunately. Mine just turned up a few days ago and there was no warning for the alcohol package discount so it seems like checking every so often is the safest bet to not losing out on a deal.

So is the Empress small enough that it can get in and out of Cuba ports whereas Majesty's size or any other Sovereign ship could not? You would think they would have used a Sovereign ship if it could get the job done. I bet every major cruise line is trying to figure out how they can get a tiny slice of Cuban land and make a private destination out of it, especially while the infrastructure is so poor there. I hope it doesn't take too long for the Cuba option to evolve but I bet it's longer than we'd all like it to be. Not to get political but a changing US administration could have a huge impact one way or another on this deal. When it finally does become a major mainstream option it will bring more cruisers to the Florida region in particular which will increase cruiseline competition to the region, bring more total ships, bring more varied itineraries, and hopefully give all cruisers in this market more value. More competition between both the major companies and Caribbean countries for our business should benefit customers.

For me the math got a lot better with that discount. Total cost for the Premium Alcohol package was $323.79 for my 7 day cruise after discount. For better or worse I would have gotten the soda package either way and that was $66.08. So if I back that out I'm down to $257.71. That amount divided by 7 days brings my daily cost to only $36.82 a day. There's always ways to manipulate numbers to make you feel better or worse about a decision but I'd say I fully expect to enjoy the luxury of trying different drinks and not feeling like I need to drink a ton just to get my money's worth.

I'm on Allure on 04/03/16. Just curious if anyone on other sailings is seeing discounts of 30% on Voom and 20% off on the alcohol packages. I was going to book my internet on the ship but I did it at 30% off when I got an email from Royal about a special promotion. Also I found out about 20% off the alcohol packages from a cruise critic roll call board and oddly I didn't get an email about that from Royal. That 20% off saved me $80 since I had already paid the full price! My first ever Labadooze will now taste that much sweeter!

Thanks for the info DocLC. I need to get up with the times on periscope! I'll try some of your other recommendations too.

Well with great sadness this past week I finished my journey through all 136 episodes of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast and now must live in a world of one podcast a week. It was a struggle this week waiting for Wednesday to come around! Matt, thanks for all of your efforts the product that you release week after week is top notch. Are there any other cruising podcasts out there that anyone would recommend even if they can't stack up to this fine product! I'm hoping there's a few gems out there that I haven't found. Most of what I have found has been loaded with commercials, lesser production quality, or defunct. Thanks

I've never seen that either on my Disney cruises

Going on Allure in April with my wife, 6yo and 3yo. Any suggestions on something to do at the port with the kids? I think we will do some beach time at Labadee and Cozumel so looking for something else. 2 other questions. In Cozumel would you suggest Paradise Beach or Mr Sanchos. It looks like they are both rated really well. We do like some pool time and not just beach time. Also by any chance will the group cruise Cruise Compass get posted on the website? I know they don't change much but I thought it would be nice to see a newer one than what is on the website now. Thanks!

So I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on Royal Caribbean's showing in the Cruise Critic Awards. I'm sailing on the Allure in April after a few Disney Cruises and I am swept up in enjoying this website and the podcasts. (I've hit episode 70 and am pressing onward to present day in the coming weeks!) I'm hoping to get caught up in the Loyal to Royal sensation after my cruise but I was wondering what the vetern folks around here think about Royal doing maybe just okay but not great in the cruise critic awards. I know at the end of the day it should be all about what each individual person likes and not a popularity contest but I still would have thought they did better in some sections then they did.

mine came out get it, get it, get it...Good thing I bought it for my upcoming Allure cruise!

The only way to book Disney now is off season far in advance with an onboard booking discount. If you do that the price is higher but close. Some of the peak time prices on Disney are incredible. I am a believer in Adam Smith's invisible hand, so good for them if they can get those prices. It really does amaze me that Disney Fantasy for the same date I picked in April on Allure is $9300 for 4 people in a smaller verandah. That's almost triple what I paid for Allure! Being a newer cruise geek I find the competition, pricing and strategies of all of the big players in the industry really interesting. So much is changing all of the time. But now I'm getting off topic! I'll be sure to let folks know how my first Royal cruise since 2009 goes!

Thanks for the responses everyone!