mworkman

Yes they did, especially when they changed the lounge requirements for gaining access. Since Covid, the hotel and airlines rewards program devalued the points program. I use to book nice hotels (Marriott properties) for 35k points per night, now run 50-60k for the same property. Upgrades for delta FC coast to coast generally ran about 25k points rt, now they run over 50k per person, if you’re lucky to find them. I haven’t seen an offer for Delta bonus points other than cruise, Starbucks, Uber or their vacation packages, that’s apparently is the new norm.

One of the things to consider for the Discovery class ships is/if it will be used for the Alaska itinerary, open jaw for the land based itinerary and passage through the Panama Canal for transit for the off seasons. Whereas the bigger ships can still continue the closed jaw itinerary’s and when they replace the Radiance class ships.

We did this very thing when we took our niece and here friend for a high school graduation gift. Just make sure that you get authorization from the parents with a notary seal for the cruise. You can get it here.. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/minor-traveling-without-parent-or-guardian-form.pdf

I concur, at the very least if they were even unsure..tell the client that you’ll look into it and do so, especially if that was my job! Tell me how you suck at your job, without telling me.

We I’ve noticed that MSC is gaining more people from Carnival with their matches status program. Have a few friends that were Loyal to Carnival and stated that there now canceling Carnival cruises and making the jump to MSC, they said why wait for the inevitable to happen later on when they can start now. Even though it’s not official, they will beat the rush and won’t lose anything if Carnival doesn’t follow through with the changes. Can’t say that I blame them. I’ve been seeing this same statement online on FB. It’s going to be interesting as other Cruise line loyalties program managers will be watching to see how the fallout affects the program.

@Lovetocruise2002Wait a minute...ive seen how active some of y'all are and question the jobs outside this blog.

Nice, unfortunately I won’t be sailing on here until April 2027.

@WAAAYTOOO I just looked at the price…it’s not available yet for the date, however I did a test booking for the week prior…Pricey to say the least…let’s say that sticker shock slapped me upside the head What kind of tax do they have that raises the price to $713 per night I’m leaning towards the Delta or Marriott hotel.

Well I’ve booked flights and 2 weeks of vacation prior to the cruise…it’s beginning to shape up. I still need to book a room in Vancouver for 1 night, as we set sail on Serenade shortly afterwards. We were planning on booking the 1st leg, but chose to book Celebrity Solstice Apr 9-23, 2027 for its itinerary.

Brilliance Nov 2-9, 2025 Navigator Nov 13-21, 2025 Anthem May 1-9, 2026 Serenade May 10-17, 2026 Odyssey Oct 18-25, 2026 Explorer Oct 31-Nov 13, 2026

Maybe all the cruise line companies could get together and build a ship and rotate the brands for different sailing, however call the ship “Ultimate Cruise Fighter Champion”. The possibility is endless…family brawler week, one on one, no holds barred…it’s endless . Group rates for those participating, solo rate (Twangster) and those willing to participate if enough drinks are consumed.

I think I might just have figured it out, by Royal shifting to the 3/4 night sailings and limiting the longer sailings down to 7 days. They’re quietly pushing those of us that enjoy longer sailings over to the sister company (Celebrity). It appears that’s now where I find myself booking more cruise. I think this is just what they want.

Some time this week, another cruise drop

It’s sad times when and if that becomes the norm of sailings from Florida becomes 7 days or less. I miss the 11 & 12 night sailings to the southern Caribbean.

My favorite class ship, especially when they were doing the longer sailing.

Gonna try the west coast this time.

I see her TA ends April 21, 2025 however she doesn’t have a cruise listed until May 16, 2025 from Spain? So I take it she didn’t get full dry dock maintenance package and will be getting that shortly after her TA then.

Has anyone seen the schedule for dry dock/refurbish posted for the next couple of years? I’m particularly interested in Brilliance’s schedule..I’ve seen where her last drydock was in 2018 and knew she had issues not long ago and has some maintenance work done for the propulsion system if I’m not mistaken. I’ve located the deployment schedule and see where there’s a possibility for her to be in for maintenance just after her transatlantic trip to Spain. https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2025_2026/2025-2026_Deployment_Summary_Destination.pdf Okay..I’ve managed to find this thread..so Brilliance is going into Dry Dock prior to her TA on April 12, 2025? https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/47458-brilliance-of-the-seas-20250412-cancelled/

Running out of coffee!

Another one booked.

Booked!

They ain’t cheap…sticker shock On the low end for 2 pax balcony one way up or down 3K

Will today be the day....only time will tell.

I travel to Seattle quite a bit, matter of fact.. I leave again on Sunday. I would say it would take you on a good day with Uber/Lyft approximately 30 minutes without delays, however I-5 traffic does get congested every day during work hours, weekends are hit and miss with the congestion of traffic throughout the day, depending on what’s going on in that area. Now Sea-Tac airport check-in is very tricky…I’ve managed to walk right up to the counter and also had to wait 45 minutes just to check-in, I fly Delta and have priority via there rewards travel program as a frequent flyer. TSA pre-check line has been very slow lately, usually 30 minutes to get passed security screening and on my way, however I’ve seen it take longer. If you have Clear…you breeze right through security screening, like 5 minutes max. Regular lines are hit and miss, I’ve seen people waiting 2 hours and miss there flights and seen where standard time is 1 hours general getting through security.. it all depends on how many screening points are up and running and how the tsa screening teams feel like doing there job. That’s another story

I feel great today…had two days off….not so fresh feeling Is that how that commercial when We we’re on a 6 day cruise and on the 4th day, woke up to the captain announce the virus had made its appearance…at that time 28 cases of it were reported…so that stopped all self service at the windjammer, back to being handed/served. looks like it hit the radar https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/outbreak/2023/Jewel-of-the-Seas_1-28.html?fbclid=IwAR0vSSAyRjAZBn7vU4bLHjrpz4advtGfFdqpfbMcgc5-Z3RPqLtQday47Tg#print