markinct

Here's to hoping for the safety of both the travelers to, and the people of Haiti. 🤞

This is going to be a fun cruise for sure. This will be our second Voyager class ship and we are looking forward to a smaller ship again. See you all onboard.
Rick and Leslie
from the weshoredid podcast 
For the new cruiser and beyond. 

Best Fort Lauderdale hotels near the cruise port: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/03/21/best-fort-lauderdale-hotels-near-cruise-port

I hope you post a travel report!

The Mountaineer is a 'bucket list' trip for me. I also want to do a few Amtrak long hauls - from NY to Chicago, then onto the Texas Eagle or the Southwest Chief.... then on to the Coast Starlight....  
 

It’s bad enough folks are using this forum to post other cruise line trip reports.  Doing a train live thread here is even further far fetched.

@Matt I think a sub forum on complaints/price increase and the long awaited (and anticipated) casino royale sub forum would be excellent about now! 

I imagine both Utopia and Oasis 7 will have a few significant new features that set them apart from the first 5. Particularly with Icon Class now out there, it doesn't seem like Royal would be content just spitting out 2 more Wonders. These two ships will need something that give people who have already been on Oasis Class ships several times a reason to want to try them out. 
As for Discovery Class, I wonder if Royal is waiting to see what direction they end up going as a company. If they keep going the "compete with Disney" route, maybe all they do from here forward is big, family friendly ships that go to Cozumel & Nassau, and maybe the smaller boats more focused on creative itineraries will be built under the Celebrity brand?

Stop. Don't give them ideas for ship names...
Amusement Park of the Seas..

...a seventh oasis class. 😍
perhaps we can skip the bionic bar and abyss slides on this one 😂

It's not very hard to finance a new build when they have iconic numbers to show as predictions for estimated returns.  That billion dollar+ ship also secures that billion dollar new debt for that new ship so it's a lot different than spending a billion fixing up old ships or servicing $40B in debt for example.
Cost cutting and new charges are a way of the mass market cruise industry.  Everyone who plays in the mass market space is doing it.   Cost cutting or "service optimization" does allow debt to be repaid faster.   
As much as I hate the service changes I also recognize why investors would demand it.  The company also has to keep the future on the radar screen.  All these mega ships generating mega profit will allow them to work on a smaller less profitable platform such as Discovery.   More LNG capable ships prepares them for when they will have no choice but to get rid of Voyager and Freedom class.  That day isn't in the near term but it's not that far off either. 

By the time this ship is built, if Icon is any indication, it will cost $10,000 for an interior guarantee.  No thanks.  
It's said in some quarters that they're still recovering from the Covid shutdown/losses.  That's why the obvious cost cutting measures on board, such as blah, unimaginative dining choices, elimination of the turndown service, and institution of charges for room service, among other things.  But throwing another $1B+ onto the debt load ???  No problem. 

As long as it's not based in North America, it's whatever. Does Royal know something get we don't know? Are they finally building a new port in Port Kembla in Australia? Will Oasis7 be based in Australia?!

Still holding out for Melody of the Seas...

Carnival also announced they placed an order for another Excel Class ship so Royal isn't alone in ordering more large cruise ships. And cruises on any Carnival Excel Class ship is nearly the same price as a cruise on any Royal Oasis Class ship. 
Project Discovery will happen and to be honest I'm not surprised to see this order for an Oasis 7.  If I'm not mistaken last year Matt hinted at such an order on this very site on the main page when he wrote an article about Royal have the option to order another Oasis Class ship but was being mum on whether or not they would exercise that option.  Also the reason I'm not surprised is because I don't think Royal has changed their plans for placing an Oasis Class ship in the Chinese market.  Having said that I don't think anyone could have guessed that the US market would be able to absorb 6 Oasis Class ships plus several Icon class ships.  Now that Royal see's the US market can handle that kind of capacity I don't think they have any plans on sending Wonder to China which was where Wonder was supposed to originally go. Could Oasis 7 end up in China I don't know and I don't think any of us will know for sure until Royal announces where the ship is going.  However I don't think ordering Oasis 7 signals Royal isn't moving forward and continuing the process with Project Discovery.   Should Project Discovery be officially launched (and order placed) if it's a "white ship" or a clean sheet design, a ship like that wouldn't even be delivered until at least 2030 or later. 

Ramping up for the Asia market again?

Bingo!!!
Don't forget Disney Cruise Lines purchased the Global Dream an unfinished 6,000 plus passenger mega cruise ship which will be exclusively based in Asia when it launches sometime in 2025.  As good as Spectrum of the Seas is it's no Oasis Class ship.  With Disney throwing down the gauntlet so to speak in Asia with their still unnamed mega ship I think Royal is dusting off their Asia market plans which they shelved during the pandemic. And what better ship to go head to head with a Disney mega ship than an Oasis Class ship.  
Royal may not be able to respond to Disney's move in 2025 when Disney launches their new ship in Asia, but that doesn't mean Royal  has to sit on the sideline.  I think Oasis 7 is Royal's response and most likely will go to Asia, China in particular to take on Disney.

Booked it last year for summer 2024.

WHen you log into your account, a file with all the ships across the RCG portfolio gets loaded in the background. Including this

NCL recently did full refurbs of 2 of their older smaller ships. And not just public areas, all staterooms were done as well and the result is brand new looking, fresh small ships at about the 10th of a cost of new vessels. I feel like this is something Royal should do with Radiance Class if they don't want to build new smaller ships. The down side of course is you still have the older, less environmentally friendly power source propelling them. 

A commentator on Matt's blog article suggested Paradise of the Seas, and I think that's excellent. Though RCL may want to save that for an Icon class ship. But Legend of the Seas would be epic..... heh - as would Epic of the Seas . . . 

That would be great - as long as the ship has the "visibility" of a Radiance class ship.... with a small-ish Royal Promenade....

In fairness Royal's executive team has a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders.  That comes way ahead of building ships that a small subset of return guest desire.  
I agree with your assessment though.  Most of my research now is going into exotic train journeys which come with stops at various places with excursions.  They are like a cruise on rails with very good food, like Michelin rated food.  My first train trip will take place this summer.  There is one in Peru, several across Australia and New Zealand that look really interesting.  Some of them are less than a balcony on Icon.  

They just ordered Oasis Number 7 this morning.  Due in 2028.  
 
https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/02/royal-caribbean-group-signs-agreement-with-chantiers-next-oasis-class-ship/

A captain on Ovation in Australia was talking about Discovery class .
A ship somewhere between Radiance and Voyager class in size.

At the CAS meeting this week while on the Radiance in Alaska, our Captain Merrek, said a new ship and class similar in size to the Radiance is being planned in the next 3 or 4 years.  The name of the ship is to be the Discovery of the Seas.
Does nybody have any further information  or confirmation?