F1guynz

Haha, remember when they were the biggest and now they are just toddlers. How times change.
Happy for Royal to send them our way.

I would class us as somewhat Loyal. When looking for cruises we tend to look at the Roya cruises first as we are diamond+ and the perks definitely have value to us, however if another line offered an opportunity that was too great to pass-up we would take it.
Royal has our business at the moment but if their ships went too far into the icon concept we would look elsewhere. While the ship looks interesting too many kids/people with longer wait times would diminish the experience for us. Not having kids means we prefer more of an adult experience.
I think Freedom class is our sweet pot.
 
 

When we sailed on Quantum recently in a suite they had about 6 blue towels rolled up in our cabin for us to use.

We have also pared back the SC bookings.  I do enjoy having a Genie but I guess I've grown a bit tired of the hectic pace that is invariably tied to SC. We do love the suites and enjoy the Sky Class amenities.  I think we have finally decided that this is the sweet spot for us.  I do not have another SC booking until 12-7-24 and it's only b/c I want to see what Icon has to offer.  Also, b/c we will be Pinnacle in October (fingers crossed), we will then be able to enjoy many of the full suite amenities.

When we sailed on Quantum recently in a suite they had about 6 blue towels rolled up in our cabin for us to use.

As a point of reference using the same ship and sail date on the US website as @F1guynz. 
No discounts or qualifiers applied such as CAS, age, state, military, etc.

Same cabin 11656

$16 gratuity x 7 days x 2 guests = $224
$3,669.28 + $224 gratuity for two = $3,893.28
That's within $67 USD which is around 1.7% but given the variability in exchange rates it's basically a wash.
 

As @twangster said it depends on where you live, for us in New Zealand and Australia the gratuity is always part of the base fare regardless of where the cruise takes place.
For comparison I have included the all-inclusive price (room and taxes) we would pay for a cruise out of Orlando in 2024. With the exchange rate $2500AUD equates to about $1694USD.


Meaning the total cost would be around $3826USD for us to do this cruise.

When we book here in New Zealand or Australia the gratuities are included in the base price of the room booking, I was wondering why they don't do that in the United States after reading a thread on CC where some people are suggesting gratuities should be reduced as they only receive once a day room service.
I understand that the gratuities are not just for the few people you interact with, but also many crew members you do not ever meet personally who contribute to your holiday experience, so it is not right to remove the daily charge.
To me it seems far more effective to include it in the base price of the fare as we do here, the cruise line can increase the daily rate by increasing the room rate which flatulates all the time anyway whenever appropriate. It just seems fairer to me than allowing people to remove the daily charge and deprive some of the back-office crew of their fair share.
Even though gratuities are included here I still tip our room steward, waiters and other crew who make our holiday an enjoyable experience. 
If I book a cruise sailing out of the Unites States in the New Zealand website the gratuities for the US sailing are included so it can be done.
What do others think, keep them separate or include them in the base fare?
 

I am not entirely sure that it's a mandate. I do remember it used to be on the Royal bookings a long time ago when we first started cruising.
This is a comment I found from an article on the Internet (so it must be true 😂
However, as Australians are cruising the world in ever-increasing numbers, we're discovering that the culture of tipping is embedded in many fare structures. When used to seeing the total price stated upfront, it can come as a surprise to first-timers that many cruise lines add a recommended daily gratuity charge to passengers' accounts. In fact, having gratuities automatically charged to their accounts was so unpopular with local cruisers that in 2010, Australia-based P&O Cruises decided to stop it completely. Now P&O leaves it up to each passenger to decide whether to tip for outstanding service or not … and do it personally with cash. Other cruise lines, such as Princess, Carnival, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean soon followed this no-tipping policy on their Australia-based ships.
 

When we book here in New Zealand or Australia the gratuities are included in the base price of the room booking, I was wondering why they don't do that in the United States after reading a thread on CC where some people are suggesting gratuities should be reduced as they only receive once a day room service.
I understand that the gratuities are not just for the few people you interact with, but also many crew members you do not ever meet personally who contribute to your holiday experience, so it is not right to remove the daily charge.
To me it seems far more effective to include it in the base price of the fare as we do here, the cruise line can increase the daily rate by increasing the room rate which flatulates all the time anyway whenever appropriate. It just seems fairer to me than allowing people to remove the daily charge and deprive some of the back-office crew of their fair share.
Even though gratuities are included here I still tip our room steward, waiters and other crew who make our holiday an enjoyable experience. 
If I book a cruise sailing out of the Unites States in the New Zealand website the gratuities for the US sailing are included so it can be done.
What do others think, keep them separate or include them in the base fare?
 

Just before the pandemic I was burned out with the Caribbean.  So I had a cruise calendar full of of other regions.  Then the shutdown.  
Restarting and staying in US waters had a lot of appeal in the early days of the restart so I did, and burned out on the Caribbean again.  
So now I'm booking other regions again.  
I moved to Florida and now I'm flying to most of my cruises.  🤣

Maybe we will still get one more ship in 24/25. Once Icon and Utopia come on stream maybe they will rejig where some of their ships are currently and one will end up in Asia somewhere. That may then free up one currently in Asia to come our way. That would explain why there are currently only two ships scheduled for Australia. (Probably just wishful thinking on my part due to the underwhelming release)
The main problem with the large ships is they are too big to visit a lot of ports so you end up with a very limited itinerary. These ports will need to adapt in the future as the ships being built are not getting smaller and ultimately the smaller ships will be gone altogether.
I wonder if Americans feel the same about their itineraries as we do as there must only be so many times you can go to CocoCay before it starts to lose its shine, or does doing the same trips over and over not bother them.
I am waiting to see what comes out in July for the Asia season but if nothing appeals we will do a land based tour next year for a nice change of pace.

We ended up booking Quantum again for Feb 2025. Originally we were going to book Ovation but Quantum is just so much cheaper for the same itinerary  We have to fly from NZ so it doesn’t really matter to us whether the departure port is Sydney or Brisbane.

I can see cruises for Australia/NZ for 2024/25 now.
Book away.

We ended up booking Quantum again for Feb 2025. Originally we were going to book Ovation but Quantum is just so much cheaper for the same itinerary  We have to fly from NZ so it doesn’t really matter to us whether the departure port is Sydney or Brisbane.

I can see cruises for Australia/NZ for 2024/25 now.
Book away.

Looks like it’s official. Just got this email for our Sept 11 Quantum sailing. 
 
 

I can see cruises for Australia/NZ for 2024/25 now.
Book away.

I have generally found that Royal Caribbean will contact you via email if there are any changes to itineraries or time in port, so until you receive an email from them, I would assume you are still going.

Thats good to know. The main hassle I have is when a category sells out you can't easily see any price drops.
 

This is the original post @Matt wrote regarding the updated T&C in April.
Royal Caribbean updates passenger cruise contract: Covid policies, legal jurisdiction and more | Royal Caribbean Blog
There doesn't appear to be anything related to price drops and I don't recall seeing anything when I originally read the email.
 
 

Singapore should get Ovation we should get Anthem.
Royal need to switch ships around just so we get different shows. Ovation must have been here for 6 years now, and 8 by 2025 as we did the crossing in 2017, too long for one ship.
And on the other end of the spectrum Brilliance only does one season.
I guess there’s a chance one of the ships could be swapped out as happened with Enchantment.

Originally when we booked this it was Enchantment, so it was good news when it was changed to Brilliance.

Hi, normally it reappears instantly as you cancel from what I have found.

Originally when we booked this it was Enchantment, so it was good news when it was changed to Brilliance.