Starrynight0154

CEO Jason Liberty implied on the recent earnings call that cruising is currently too cheap, and prices will only go up. He’s VERY focused on profit,  “closing the value gap between cruises and land based vacations.”

Unfortunately for all of us that probably means more cutbacks are being debated in the company boardroom. Also, repricing anything lower like drink packages or cruise-fare, and finding attractive prices overall is going to be a rare occurrence going forward IMO. 

In the U.S. patients are taken to the closest appropriate hospital based on protocols setup by medical directors. There’s 3 levels of trauma centers, with level 1 being the highest acuity. Level 1 has trauma surgeons, and other speciality services onsite 24/7. If you have a heart attack you’d need a hospital with a cath lab, if you have a blood clot you’d need a hospital with vascular ultrasound, etc. Other countries probably have a similar setup. Major cities like Naples most likely have designated hospitals that offer all those speciality services for life threatening conditions, and a patient may have to go there if they want medical treatment, regardless of its reputation.

I’m curious if the adult only area will be complimentary 

Price is the sole reason I’m not booking. It’s currently twice what I paid for Wonder OTS. Freedom and Voyager class offer great value, and you still get many fun activities. Not sure if or when I’ll book an Icon cruise, I don’t think prices will ever fall since obviously there’s plenty of demand.

I’ve been on trains in and around Rome. Not to the cruise port though. It was a simple process and good experience. You can buy tickets online in advance or at the station. Some tickets need to be validated, machines for this are conveniently located where you board. 

27 minutes ago, Yenskiboo said:

1st time cruising 04/2024! …are the pillow on-board really that big?! Hopefully they’re still rectangular in shape, and not like those insanely-large square ones you find in Germany… ?

They’re rectangular like a body pillow. I found it left my head in an unnaturally high position due to the height of the pillow. I’m 6’3” 240lbs and they were too large. Requested a smaller one from my room attendant. He was very busy and it came 2 days later. I’d recommend bringing a pillow from home and stuffing it in your luggage if you’re worried.

I sailed from PC in February, my 2nd time. Never had an issue parking. I think it depends what time you arrive. At 10am there were a lot of spaces available. When you approach terminal 1 there’s a roundabout at the entrance, the bottom right portion of the garage looks busy, but that’s just drop off. In the middle it says parking, go there and park. It’s $145 for a 7 night cruise. Look on google maps street view to get an idea of what it looks like. Check your cruise ticket email to see which terminal it is. Terminal 1 is excellent.

I’m recovering from a herniated disc 2 years ago, 90% better, but have chronic intermittent pain still. Mattress was very comfortable on our cruise. My issue was with the pillows, they were huge, had to request smaller ones.

Does anyone you know have an old smartphone they’d let you borrow? 

On 4/15/2023 at 8:34 AM, Colombia20102018 said:

I don’t want to reinvent the wheel, so let me share with you what I liked from a small European cruise line I cruised with recently:

1. Free beer and wine during meal hours.

2. Laundry room where for €4 one could wash and dry a full load of clothes. 
3. One hour pass to use SPA facilities (steam room, saunas, etc.) was €5

4. The kid’s club has a pool where families can chill and swim

 5. Did I say free beer and wine already?!!! 

Every passenger getting 1 complimentary hour in the thermal suite would be a good addition. And design the thermal suites to have ocean views.

On 4/15/2023 at 7:46 AM, Rackham said:

I'm wondering if a lazy river concept couldn't be developed slip and slide style. Slippery bottom with a thin moving layer of water on top to move the floats. 

Out of these options, bowling. Specifically duckpin bowling since the lanes are smaller, the balls are smaller and don't require a range of weights and fingerhole sizes, and thus more lanes can be fitted into the venue.

Lazy river would work well on a ship like Icon, I’m kinda surprised there’s not one.

10 hours ago, Mike n Ky said:

We did Odyssey in January, JS, and the bed was the best, not hard but rather just slightly firm, on any RC cruise we have been on. Loved the room as well and wish we could take it with us on all cruises! lol  WOS in a couple of weeks, first time on this ship, and from what I have read they are supposed to be a bit better than others but we will see.

WOS mattress was very comfortable. But the pillows were way too large. Requested a smaller pillow, took a day to get it though.

4 hours ago, mac66 said:

Trap shooting off the rear of the ship...oh wait, used to do that when we first started cruising in 1979. My wife won a bottle of champagne.

Did that many years ago on land. It was so much fun! I like the murder mystery dinner someone else mentioned too. 

If you were in charge at Royal Caribbean what new activities would you choose?

17 hours ago, Qeyton Dude said:

it will, be patient and keep checking they are bound to run the 30% off at least twice a year

 

There’s been 30% off sales and BOGO 50% off. New low seems to be $72.99. 

Remember to avoid DK Oysters in Mykonos. Or any high pressure restaurant that preys on tourists and doesn’t provide menus/prices upfront.

https://nypost.com/2022/08/08/notorious-greek-restaurant-scams-another-couple-557-for-drinks-oysters/

1 hour ago, Bean79 said:

How do you set up notifications on the app for this?

If you have an iPhone, settings, scroll down to the app settings, turn notifications on. 

Wish my 2024 Wonder drink package would drop below $70

1 hour ago, Link Rowan said:

Sorry to ask but cannot find the answer:  once the drink package is purchased online, pre-cruise, through the cruise planner it says reserved on my account.  If the price changes where will the new price be posted?  I want to monitor it in case it goes down.  Will the new price be posted on my cruise planner?

Thanks,

Link

In the cruise planner under beverage packages it’ll list it. Says reserved and the price underneath that image is the current price. Setup notifications for the app on your phone and it’ll alert you of new sales, so you can see if the price dropped.

If they had a PDF version on the app it would be better. Scrolling forever on the daily planner tab isn’t user friendly, especially when there’s a lot of activities. Hopefully this will be improved in the future. 

My day to day life is fairly boring and sometimes stressful(work, eat, gym, sleep, etc.) Feel so alive at sea, watching the ocean from my balcony, the food and other activities are added perks. Got back home and booked another cruise on Wonder, after already having one booked on Odyssey 9 nights to the Greek Isles. After a couple weeks I remembered how much I like Coco Cay and would like to go there twice, so booked a b2b on Voyager. Gives me something to look forward to the next 2 years. I definitely prefer this over land based vacations right now. Why do you cruise?

Didn’t realize water went up the spiral stairs on the Wonder jacuzzi in the solarium. Wanted to see the jacuzzi better and planned on using it later. Went down the stairs with shoes and pants on. Looked down and I was knee deep in water. Couldn’t wear my shoes for several days until they dried.

Vitality Cafe on Wonder

3 hours ago, Magoody said:

How do we  know which terminal we need to go to? We are leaving Port Canaveral Sunday on Wonder of the Seas. 

About a month before your cruise you’ll get an email titled “vacation documents.”  Open the PDF. It’ll contain useful information such as terminal number, luggage tags, etc. 

You can’t go through the parking gate until you pay, you pay at the gate, then it opens. It’s $145 for a 7 night cruise.