jticarruthers

Doc, fair enough if you have a 20 year cruising history to reflect across, if you only have a 5 year history though the opposite conclusion could be drawn.

I see your point, but don't have 20 years of cruise experience to judge inflation over. For me its about 5-7 years. This time last year I booked my 7 nt cruise for this Thanksgiving ... 7 nts Freedom of the Seas, $2666 for 3 in a balcony, good price in my mind and I am happy with it. Took a look this year at the same time for a similar cruise ... (cant get an exact match due to ships moving around) .... 6 nt on Freedom, $2620 or 7nt on Oasis $3600. So same money for a day less, lots more money for same days on a "better" (not in my mind) ship in 1 year. Depending on how you do your number crunching something in the realm of a 15-35% increase in one year for a similar cruise, similar time frame, similar lead time. Or .... NCL Escape, same price, same timeframe, same leadtime, but includes UBP at that price so something like $800 "cheaper" than the RCL product. Couple that with decreased service and quality my last few times out and significant drink price increases and NCL gets my business next time out. Currently evaluating Carnival Vista for the one after that ... RCL is certainly entitled to raise prices to whatever they feel is appropriate but if the rest of the market doesn't follow, they just priced themselves out of my vacation plans. (Which stinks because I make diamond this year!) No interest in Specialty Restaurants, no real desire for MTD/DD, just let me on the boat, enjoy and relax without feeling like there is a hand digging into my bank account.

Interesting, didn't realize there had to be a distance involved as well. Makes sense though.

Would of thought a Nassau stop would be an easy one to make the cruise "legal" but maybe not ?

We were 3/28-4/4, completely different wait team though, very odd :)

Grande is formal every night (jacket required I believe), apart from that restaurant though the rest of the ship does not have formal nights.

bcarney, describe your table location some more, wonder if we had the same table :) We were on deck 4, all the way at the back at the dining room port side on a little raised platform right by the entrance to galley.

I usually book through my TA to pick up additional OBC on top of the "best deal" from the cruise line. TA hasn't really been proactive in looking for new deals for me but has been very good about chasing down RCL to get them applied if I call and let her know I think my price is down. I have had mixed luck, one guy in our group of friends I got him about 6 reductions on the same cruise last year, ended up being way down, When BOGO originally hit I repriced about 8 reservations for a savings of about $300 each. Havent seen any drops on any of the cruises I have been watching in a long time though :(

Think our son was about 6 the first time we did the stingrays, he got in the water and basically climbed up on top of my head once he realized what else was in the water. He loved it and wanted to do it again though ! Second time around was a couple of years later and he was fine in the water with them swimming up on him. It depends a bit on the tide level as well, waist deep is ok, neck deep is a little trickier :)

Enchantment goes to Miami to replace Majesty. Then after a few months Rhapsody replaces Enchantment, but no short cruises for a few months next summer :(

Not much help on this one, I know there are several hotels in downtown that are "sort of near" the port, but none spring to mind that are "right there". Not sure if any of them offer park and cruise deals :(

bcarney I must have been on the Jewel the week ahead of you. Same experience, didn't see a line at any bar the whole cruise, didnt really do any drinking either. We usually grabbed a drink or two while waiting for dinner and that was it.

Yep, now they can eliminate all the wait staff ... if they convert the bar to dispenser style machines like the soda you could get rid of the bartenders too ... not only saves on labor costs but frees up new "subsurface" cabins with virtual balconies for additional passengers !

Assuming they don't raise the price $240 tomorrow to prepare for the sale ;) If you regularly use a travel agent they are supposed to automatically transfer the reservation to your TA (although my TA advised me they frequently "forget" but if you just notify your TA of the Res # they can chase it down, no paperwork to complete). The benefits of the next cruise are pretty limited especially if you are doing an open booking vs. a specific sailing. Main benefit is the minimal deposit (mine last week was $100 for 3 passengers on a 7 night cruise). For $100 you really cant go wrong and if you take the OBC on your current sailing you really aren't even out of pocket on the deal.

Nope Windjammer is the buffet where you serve yourself, this is the new dining room where you place your order yourself and then go and stand by the galley door and wheel the cart out for your table .... while your significant other heads to the bar for drink refills.

It was a test of a new cost cutting proposal - self service dining room ;)

Deceptive advertising is the best kind :)

Doc did you prebook or book on board? I see specials all the time on the boats (seems like they always have space available), wonder if that's because less people book ahead due to the high prices ?

John which ship(s) are you looking at? It is my understanding that you absolutely can book the MDR but remember that on some ships (quantum, anthem, ovation?) there is no longer an MDR. They have split it into the new Dynamic Dining style dining rooms so maybe those are showing up for you ? Also, I know Oasis was remodeled to turn the MDR into 3 DD style restaurants that still serve the MDR menu at the moment though so maybe those are showing up if you are looking at Oasis ? Not sure what Allure/Harmony would show as their MDR option

Definitely lowered my on board drinking last week, with 5 port days on a 7 night cruise the drink package absolutely did not make sense and at $12 plus tip a pop I was much more likely to skip the extra round before dinner whereas in the past I would probably not have thought about it. Probably doesn't affect RCI bottom line much since they made more profit on my one round of drinks but impacted my satisfaction level quite significantly as I was "thinking about it" rather than just relaxing and enjoying myself.

Prices were $12 for most drinks on Jewel last week, 5 port days out of 6 on top of that. Did most of my drinking on land and it was ok but the couple of times we bought a round of drinks I just about fell out of my chair. Really hard to tip extra when you feel like you need to setup a mortgage everytime you buy a round.

Quantum out of China, Anthem out of NJ

Its been a few years but I think the answer is yes but with a caveat that it might depend on the tide level. I remember clearly squelching through a nasty clay/mud combo because it was very low tide, and pretty certain we were floating at the actual aqua park part though.

Latest announcement I have seen is that the Traditional + MTD (My Time Dining) is in effect for Oasis indefinitely. So if you want early or late you need to call and request it, if you want My Time Dining then that should also be an option. The Main Dining Room has been divided into the new "name restaurants" but they are all serving the standard MDR menu not the new menus from Dynamic Dining. Don't have any info for you on Coastal Kitchen.

Limited availability on the RCI website; Looks like Enchantment doing 3nt/4nt Bahamas out of her new home in MIAMI. Anthem on a 5 nt out of NJ on 4/30 Grandeur on a 5 nt out of Baltimore on 5/7 Looks like Indy is doing a 3 nt on 4/28 and then headed to Europe Majesty on a 3nt 4/29, might be her last cruise if I recall correctly Navigator on a 6nt 4/24 Everything else is 7 nts and up (which are great cruises but sounds like longer than your wishlist)