jticarruthers

We are scheduled to visit Santorini in June.

According to the ship's itinerary and the port schedule for Santorini we will be there from 2pm to 11pm.

However, the excursions available through the ship all start at 9am +/- ...... Feels like a shitty start to the day having to swim ashore a few hours before we get there.

I have asked just about every avenue at Royal that I can (Regular #, C&A #, Excursions, Group Excursions, my TA called in and we even called the Casino line) ... no answers just bounced from department to department.

I did find one travel blog that mentioned that the cruise ships dont dock but technically do two tender stops in Santorini. First one is to drop off passengers booked on ship excursions and then they relocated to the second tender area to drop off all other passengers and eventually pick up all passengers.

Is anyone able to shed any light on how it works in Santorini? Seems like a no brainer to do a ship excursion if it gets me 6 extra hours in port but not sure I really believe that explanation.

Thanks

21 hours ago, Doug_Texas said:

@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!

It is much easier for all so kudos for figuring it out, I have also used it with Carnival and MSC but oddly for as much as they embrace Tech not Disney.

I havent seen it as an option the last couple of times I went out of Miami (most recently April this year).

I think global entry kind of died away in most contexts.

17 minutes ago, Xaa said:

You generally only raise prices when demand is high.  Demand is extremely high allowing them to still completely fill ships at higher prices.

BTW, who is still getting a stimulus check?  Wasn't the last one in like 2021 and cut off based on income like the others?  I honestly don't, know we were fortunate enough to not receive any.

In the same boat, never saw any stimulus but luckily didn't need any. My understanding is that a lot of the surge in travel is still being attributed to people saving their stimulus checks since they also didn't need them but were lucky enough to get them anyway and are now using them to fund travel, etc. coming out of the pandemic. Anecdotally know a couple of people in that category but perhaps that's overstated.

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

The article says they have higher bookings than 2019 and a record high deposit balance. Neither of those reflect the increase in pricing. 

True, they also have several more ships active now than they did in 2019 which would reflect in higher deposit balance.

To be clear I am also not disputing that demand is also up, I was just commenting that prices being almost double is probably driving more of the record revenue and profit than the amount that demand is up.

Glad they are doing well in their post-COVID bounceback (both as a cruiser and a stockholder) but I think its disingenuous to claim the record highs are due to demand.

It is due to record high pricing that so far has not impacted demand but likely will if/when the economy starts to move back to a more normal vibe (people not getting regular stimulus checks, paying their student loans, etc.)

As a regular cruiser who never expected to want or be able to cruise as regularly as I do the price is starting to cause me to rethink some of my options, hopefully (as a stockholder) I am wrong and the good times keep rolling but I have a hard time seeing that.

The reason for cruising DCL is the Disney not the Cruise Line ... selling it off would only work if it included licenses to continue to use the Disney characters/theming and maintain the Disney standard of service ... at which point why would anyone not called Disney want to take it on?

AFAIK DCL is profitable so I wouldnt think spinning it off makes any sense, the insane ESPN business where you are paying massive fees to televise sports than large numbers of people dont watch makes a ton of sense to dump though.

Sticker shock on the first few sailings , guess I wont be replacing my Allure sailing with the twice as expensive Utopia sailing after all

Doesn't seem too crazy later in the year so we will probably end up booking but my credit card is back in my pocket for today.

10 hours ago, asquared17 said:

i am in a similar boat. (no pun intended)

i love the newness of a ship, and i am certain she will be beautiful and shiny but port canaveral is not cheap for us to navigate to, and knocking it down to a 4-night cruise is not cost effective for us unless if doing a B2B.

also the logistical planner in me HATES moving once i’m settled, so i’d prefer being on  an older ship for a longer itinerary. 

but that’s ME, and my circumstances. 

there is obviously a market for this weekend cruiser and while i am shocked they are devoting the newest ship in the fleet (barring icon, obvs) for a shorter itinerary, there must be so many that will be able to benefit and take advantage

i know there are many here on the boards that prefer PC as their port of choice and will be able to really have the full experience, which is wonderful. and of course, PDCC is always a dream.

Opposite for us, Canaveral is easy to get to and vacation time is the limiting factor so lots of weekend cruises that take minimal time off is fantastic.

Add in bigger ships with so much to do that we can stretch the experience over multiple trips and Utopia is looking awesome.

We have weekends on Allure, Oasis and Symphony already next year .. probably adding 1-2 Utopias depending on the price point.

When I first started cruising (not in the days of sailing ships FYI) the "sales" were very infrequent and even the low level C&A discounts were actually useful ... then one of the marketing geniuses learned about the "always on sale, all the time" technique and the low level C&A discounts basically became worthless because the prevailing sale is almost always as good or better.

I wish they were stackable but it is what it is ...not a scam but it feels wrong when you are supposed to be getting a loyalty benefit but instead they give the same benefit to everyone.

Big increase for not much value but not enough that its going to materially change the price of a cruise.

Pity there is no refund for "staying on the boat".

23 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

...and the price.

True ... figured that would come with the booking window though

Ready to book ... just waiting on the window

Doing a similar cruise in July, the docs from Princess had a blurb about there being an onsite storage company at the cruise terminal that has reopened. 

Not sure where you find the details but seems like maybe an option ?

7/15/24 makes sense Allure heads from Canaveral to Miami that week ....

Twangster I think you are spot on and it makes sense from Royal's perspective but I after a few visits with 2 Freedom class on the island at the same time I am already leaning towards staying on the ship ... make it an Oasis and an Icon and I will be headed to the solarium

The sale is really the base price most of the time, they just camouflage it so that it looks like a great deal and people come running to buy it.

True sales have become increasingly rare, 6-7 years ago it was not uncommon for me to buy/rebuy the package 4-5 times and even reprice the cruise a couple of times, haven't done either one in a while.

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Reports that Vicki Freed may a loose reference to Utopia coming in July 2024 on a TA call.

That would line up with Allure moving back to Miami in July 2024.

Last cruise I had the full drink package and canned soda was included up at the pools.

Next cruise I do not want/need the full drink package but thinking of doing one of the non-alcoholic packages instead.

The soda package seems pretty clear that it is just the freestyle machines and then "fountain soda and refills at any venue".

The refreshment package reads mostly the same with the addition of a bunch of other options that I don't really need

Does anyone know if either package includes canned soda or is it just freestyle/fountain for both ?

Thanks

Depends on the cruise, for the most part though I am up and ready to get going early so the later debarkation wouldn't do much for me.

1 hour ago, twangster said:

No LNG in Port Canaveral.  It's barged in from Georgia.  That hasn't stopped two LNG ships in PCN with more coming.  

I learn new things ...

I recall hearing about LNG in Port Canaveral but turns out twangster is correct, they don't have LNG facilities but they do provide LNG refueling  in Port Canaveral by transferring the fuel from another ship ... who knew.

https://www.portcanaveral.com/About/LNG-at-Port-Canaveral

4 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

…not to mention the extremely unfavorable environmental regulations of CA…

I thought that was the cartel twangster was referring to ?

I enjoy trying different ships/lines, etc. so I have some interest in Icon but not enough to pay the prices that are being asked.

If/when the price comes down I would be interested but not currently.

A travel agent friend of mine was told much the same thing on an RCI call in response to the question "what are the plans to replace Allure on the Bahamas run out of Canaveral next year".

Be interesting to see what this becomes long term with Allure apparently staying on the Bahamas run but just moving back down the road to Miami.

Price willing this might get me on 4 weekend Oasis class cruises next year

We just did a cruise with two couples, booked the guys in one room and the girls in one room to take advantage of the C&A Balcony discount on both rooms (GF and I are D+, the other couple were first timers).

When we did our check-in's my GF and I were checked in together putting all charges to my card and the other couple checked in together putting all their charges to their card.

When we got onboard we requested an extra key for each room from Guest Service, those cards did not have charge privileges but let us have extra keys so we could get into the cabins with our respective significant others

All charges went to the "right" credit cards based on whoever did the charging.

We didn't try the room service for example so I am not sure how they would decide which person's folio they would charge that to but my guess would be "guest 1" and the charge would then flow through to "guest 1"'s linked credit card.

The final statements actually grouped my GF an I as one charge and the other couple as a second charge even though we had crossed cabins.

RCI actually did a good job with the ease of that process.