Geezer Of The Seas

We have 2 more booked. After the January '24 trip we will likely retreat to the sidelines, to plan/pay for something to celebrate our 50 years of a life sentence, oops, marriage in 2026.

All for saving a buck, but for me the mental gymnastics and aggravation of it all.......I buy what I buy, pay what I pay, the end. And since Royal amended their legalese to include "we aren't responsible and are not obliged to honor" any IT faux pax's, it's just a non-starter for what's not a lot of savings. Especially with the dynamic pricing thing.............

Absolutely NOT Scopolamine patches which are only available by prescription. Scopolamine interacts (and not favorably) with alcohol and some prescription drugs, particularly hypnotics (sleep inducing medications). Learned the hard way on my second cruise. Discovered the suggestion of looking at the distant horizon works fine for me if I'm feeling a bit queasy. Strangely, inside the ship or the cabin hasn't been a problem for me.

Got it a week ago for January '24 5 day on Mariner. The port tax only increased $5. Size matters (the ship, that is )?

More than we perhaps imagine? Especially given some of the reports of members on this forum that have recently sailed with a lot of 'first timers'. Nothing appeals to the middle class (with a family in particular) pysche more than the words "easy monthly payments". Wouldn't personally do it, and the "finance minister" would give the idea a double 'hell no" thumbs down. The plastic is paid in full monthly now and Thank God we can do that. But as Ampurp notes, the time may come sooner than later we'll have to find another form of amusement/recreation. Grateful for what we've managed so far though, nearly 6 thousand nautical miles traveled to countries we never dreamed of visiting, and in a manner who knew was so enjoyable, stupid human tricks and bad behavior aside.

A question for anyone who has cruised Royal (and other lines) longer than we have. Our first cruise in 2022, I don't recall "monthly payments with Affirm" available as a payment option when we booked the reservation. Same with Jewel sailing in November 2022, & Wonder trip in April '23 (booked August 2022, sorry NCL). I know Carnival has offered monthly payments at least as long as 2022 with their own financing option, but Royal, not until this year. Is this a big reason demand is what it is? Since we have never bought a cruise in this fashion, what happens if you default on a payment, cancel the trip (if that's possible)?

Maybe Royal will take a cue from Coca Cola Enterprises and announce they're done with product price increases in North America & Europe? Discovering consumers are starting to shy away from their products will do that, though the thought of drinking that other cola or a private label brand goes against everything I stand for. That 'other' brand's sales slipped 4.5 % last quarter, fortunately for Pepsico, the snack food business rolls merrily on; folks are just washing those chips down with something else.

Never say never. Iger, the board and the stock are under a lot of pressure from the ever popular 'activist' investors; one in particular. Michael Eisner was forced out by Roy E. Disney; a move backed by some investors at the time. Ironic, but some of Eisener's 'work' is being undone now. Anything could be on the table. ESPN has gone from cash cow to albatross. The cruise line, like any other, is capital intensive.

In a New York minute if DCL in Bob Iger, the board of directors, & the bean counters opinion determine DCL isn't contributing to the bottom line/enhancing shareholder value. Don't know if any of you saw this story last week on CNBC website, but Disney apparently is pitching the idea of selling an interest in ESPN to the NFL & NBA. The cord cutting is taking a toll and those outsized media contracts with professional and collegiate sports franchises haven't gotten any cheaper.

Our first cruise included Nassau. I'll say it certainly is not like the slick promotion photos and brochures. Then again, I worked my entire 25 years for the fire department that provided fire/EMS protection 'around the worlds' in Central Florida; most all my station assignments in the southwest part of the county. That area has changed over time and not for the better...........

Sunscreen. Lots and lots of sunscreen. Probably the "reef safe" variety as some port calls on your itinerary might require its use. How compliance for that rule is checked is anyone's guess but...........

I'd save the package for the specialty restaurants. The a' la carte prices of menu items at Playmakers is on par (some items cheaper) than land based sports bars I've been in. And that nacho platter with a margarita................... My wife and I shared it on Mariner and didn't need to eat dinner the first night on the ship. Increasing miles on the odometer does that to me for some reason.

Peculiar. We've done 3 post Covid trips on 3 ships. Always had the hanging tags in a drawer at the vanity area. Perhaps efficiency (or lack of) on the part of cabin stewards? Last outing on Wonder, enjoyed the convenience of room service breakfast 5 out of 7 days. There were hiccups once or twice with the orders, but................

Three cruises with Royal, we have never purchased the Deluxe Beverage Package, only the Refreshment Package, which of course includes any beverage but alcoholic drinks. Never paid much attention to the math, but sorta did on our 7 day trip on Wonder this past April. We had 2-3 drinks daily apiece (hard stuff primarily, some wine) and our out of pocket cost on drinks was about $330 (including additional gratuities outside the 18% (NOT REQUIRED) added to the drink price). Between the Refreshment Package cost & the a la' carte booze, I know we spent less on all refreshments than the lowest cost pre-trip price we found for the Deluxe Package in the Cruise Planner. Perhaps helpful to the OP, perhaps not, but it worked for us. PS: FWIW, we did all our alcohol consumption at 2 bars, Trellis in Central Park, & the Solarium Bar. The additional tips which went on our Sea Pass cards with the drinks, netted us 5 "on the house" over 7 days. Don't know how things, work, but it appears if you add an additional tip that money is not pooled and split, but rather goes to the bartender on duty that recorded the sale. Only way I can explain the freebies, but it appears to to pay dividends confining your business to a single bartender at a bar if that's possible.

Photos of Icon & Utopia don't look that different that Wonder up close and personal. They all have big old butts and considerable overhang from the hull............kinda like me.

3 sailings with Refreshment Package, only 2 ships with Johnny Rockets, but batted a thousand with no cost shakes. But.................as I posted somewhere else here, the shake glass on Wonder's Johnny Rockets was smaller than the glasses used on Mariner. Wonder's were plastic as I recall, Mariner's were like a classic glass soda fountain style glass.

Only with the Pepto Bismo shake. Conjures memories of work when our station had one of those "all nighter" nights. In between calls a stop at the Krystal for an order of 50 Krystal Burgers with cheese and 10 orders of fries for the engine, truck & rescue crew. Wonderful back in the day, I took it all in stride. Today, would probably kill me.

Hardly an expert but my wife and I have done 3 cruises in the last 18 months, after never having been on a ship......ever. First one was a 4 night to Coco Cay & Nassau as a test drive as it were. Guess we liked it, #2 & #3 were an 8 night & 7 night. A 3 night & 5 night on tap. We aren't "gotta see and do it all" folks; what happens (or not) happens over the course of the trip. Only advance prep is the dining purchases, beverage, Internet, excursion(s) & the must have beach bed rental at Coco Cay. Play it by ear, do what you can or like, let it come to you. Less stress that way as well and it's truly a vacation. We don't measure the value of a trip by how much we did, but rather how chill we got and how much we enjoyed what we did do/see. Cruise length doesn't matter to us. If we've got the time Royal's got the cruise. Bermuda, BTW is on our 'to do' list.

What the CBP officer told me at PC in April when we were selected for the deluxe welcome home. Facial recognition matches what it see to the passport photo in the database.

All in, securing passport friendly birth certificates, the photo fee at the post office (fortunately a branch 5 miles from us that does passport apps), the cost of the passports & the cards (a hedge against losing the book, though certainly not necessary) we spent close to $400. The passport price increased the following year. But we got them as a matter of convenience and we're old, what if something goes sideways on a trip. Who knows we might someday visit Canada or Mexico by air or ground? But I certainly understand saving a buck if someone is only contemplating closed loop cruise.

Maybe so, but this morning the plot thickens. Was preparing to call Royal, but before I did, I went to the Chase website to retrieve the CC transaction information. It was gone! Not offset with a chargeback, just GONE! Wife says this happens for who knows what reason with Chase, only to have a charge reappear a day or two later. For the moment, nothing to discuss with Royal............ Friday 7/7: The transaction has not posted back to our CC. Previously when checking the cart in Cruise Planner the desired items were just sitting there with only the 'submit payment' button present. Today, the selected items were presented with the "remove from cart" button, which I promptly did. And while they sat in the cart since June 29th, the price increased by $65 dollars for the total purchase. Nah.....................Got the bed at South Beach locked down and Internet, a' la carte the rest. Only 5 days. we might surprise ourselves and make this our lowest expenditure cruise yet.

Until last Thursday afternoon, 4 cruises and add ons booked by "Geezer Travel" without a hitch. Don't know if it was our broadband, traffic crush on Royal's website for the big 4th of July sale or what. The purchase is still stuck in the cart and Royal got paid. I'm sure as hell not tinkering with the cart. I just hope if and when I can talk to a human being it's resolved.

You're by no means alone. Information not accepted in repeated attempts when booking a cruise, purchase on cruise planner not confirmed to us but Royal by Gawd has placed a charge against our credit card (and I'm still trying to reach a human via their pathetic call center and give up in frustration; the bloom is starting to come off the rose). I'm thinking our 11 month old granddaughter and her fellow travelers at her daycare are doing the IT.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you human behavior in the 21st. century. The rules are for thee, not for me, whatever........... You're NOT being uppity, whiney or complaining. Royal heavily markets this 'suite neighborhood concept'. You and other passengers pay mightily (or higher) for it. The end. Make It So Royal!! That said, as we discovered in April, Oasis Class ships aren't our cup of tea. Glad we sailed Wonder, she is a phenomenal vessel. But I challenge the notion 6900 plus passengers are well dispersed, especially on sea days. The only venues we really enjoyed (and weren't stampeded) were the Solarium, Central Park, Johnny Rockets, 150 Central Park and our cabin and balcony. The elevators on Wonder (or any ship really). Fuggedaboutit!! My wife and I still debate which one is better, Mariner or Jewel. She loves Mariner (as did I), but I really had the warmies for Jewel. Can't really explain why, just really, really enjoyed her.

For how much longer I wonder (not a pun there)? The Royal business model seems to be gravitating to "pack 'em in as densely as possible". I get this is a very capital intensive business and a passenger load factor of a bazillion per trip may be a way to keep fares and add ons reasonably priced (and the company profitable), but will one of the next ships be named "Greyhound of the Seas" or "Sardines of the Seas"? Looking forward to 3 days on Rhapsody in November; from the biggest to one of the smallest.