OCSC Mike Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 32 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: Truth Hope things worked out for you. Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 Working now. Prices, ugly. 12k for a GS on Navi. PPPJJ-GCVAB, CrimsonCruiser, fireclan and 1 other 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 The short sailings are so, so........so boring. 3-4 nights that go to CocoCay and Nassau repeatedly. I mean, yuck. MamaShark, WAAAYTOOO and CrimsonCruiser 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 31 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said: Hope things worked out for you. They did. Prices not so pretty but I got WN 8/17; UT NYE; WN March 2026 OCSC Mike, CrimsonCruiser and WAAAYTOOO 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 8 minutes ago, Lucky said: The short sailings are so, so........so boring. 3-4 nights that go to CocoCay and Nassau repeatedly. I mean, yuck. Different strokes… some people sail for the ship & love CocoCay. I did a 3/4 B2B once, enjoyed it, and there’s a good chance I’ll do them again. MamaShark, PPPJJ-GCVAB and michaelp1446 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 So I'm booking Star and Vision. Could I get any more extreme with those choices. Baked Alaska, OCSC Mike, PPPJJ-GCVAB and 1 other 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 2 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: They did. Prices not so pretty but I got WN 8/17; UT NYE; WN March 2026 Given that I’m sure you weren’t expecting great prices, glad it worked out with the Star delay & getting on both ships. I have our usual sail dates on hold while I wait for Wonder & Utopia group rates. My TA said he should have them tomorrow. Lovetocruise2002 and PPPJJ-GCVAB 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snotarni Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 Booked a whole bunch of weekend sailings out of Miami and Everglades. Wonder 3-day GTY Suite prices weren’t terrible, and way better than PCN ships. Gonna get used to those weekend “jaunts” down 95. Hope everyone got what they wanted! WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoCruiser Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 24 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said: Given that I’m sure you weren’t expecting great prices, glad it worked out with the Star delay & getting on both ships. I have our usual sail dates on hold while I wait for Wonder & Utopia group rates. My TA said he should have them tomorrow. Likewise. Posted public rates not great, waiting to see how our agent did for the group. But in my case, getting a specific departure date and departure port makes all the difference, and we got them both, which simply didn't exist on Carnival or any other line that has announced so far, so I'm happy. So, back now to keeping everything on course for THIS year's December voyage that's already planned, already being promoted, and is already booking reservations, knowing that our NEXT voyage after that is ready for planning and rollout further down the line. I hate having to reserve nearly 2 years ahead of sailing, but lately it's the only way to get a fairly decent deal before everything inevitably goes up. michaelp1446 and FionaMG 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 37 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said: glad it worked out with the Star delay & getting on both ships. That is actually what I am happiest about. Grabbing 8/17 on WN before she goes to 3/4 nights. OCSC Mike, PPPJJ-GCVAB, WAAAYTOOO and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cactus527 Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 I'm so glad I saw this this evening before going off to bed. Snagged three cruises on hold while I check with my TA on pricing. OCSC Mike, FionaMG and WAAAYTOOO 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottD Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 5 hours ago, Lucky said: The short sailings are so, so........so boring. 3-4 nights that go to CocoCay and Nassau repeatedly. I mean, yuck. I agree, it's what I expected, but going to Nassau and coco cay AGAIN and AGAIN aren't up our alley. Still eyeing up a Canada trip, possibly. PPPJJ-GCVAB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 I don't mind the short Florida cruises for an occasional getaway but at premium rates it's a hard pass for me. I have many bucket list destinations on my list. When a short Florida cruise represents a sizeable chunk of a bucket list cruise I tend to save my money to apply towards my list. OCSC Mike, Snotarni, Baked Alaska and 5 others 6 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottD Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 15 minutes ago, twangster said: I don't mind the short Florida cruises for an occasional getaway but at premium rates it's a hard pass for me. I have many bucket list destinations on my list. When a short Florida cruise represents a sizeable chunk of a bucket list cruise I tend to save my money to apply towards my list. Yep- I don't have a bucket list, per say, but would like to see as many places as possible. If we lived near a port and could do some quick 2-3 day runs to coco cay here and there, I'd be all about it. But for a full week cruise from NJ or Miami, it's gotta be a combo of Ship AND destinations for us to make the money and time off from work or school worth it. asquared17, WAAAYTOOO, Baked Alaska and 4 others 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilley Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 I booked symphony and Odyssey out of New Jersey and Visions out of B-More for the reason that I want to see something else. Haven’t been to Labedee since the late nineties. So looking forward to that on Symphony. Going to New England/Canada on Visions. Small and old ship but lots of fun. I catch train round trip for $35 and hop in an Uber for $10-15. Still cheaper than flying to Miami. Doing a 12 day on Odyssey out of New Jersey and the itineraries are places I have been but it’s been over 10 years. I can take a break from PDCC. In fact I wanna stay on ship when I’m on Icon in May but I have a lot of first time cruisers traveling with me. PPPJJ-GCVAB, ScottD, Cactus527 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 I still can't believe Navigator and Star have similar suite prices. Cactus527, WAAAYTOOO, dr martini and 3 others 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 29 minutes ago, smokeybandit said: I still can't believe Navigator and Star have similar suite prices. That’s pretty crazy. WAAAYTOOO and PPPJJ-GCVAB 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 1 hour ago, smokeybandit said: I still can't believe Navigator and Star have similar suite prices. Another ship that I have noticed is priced way beyond what it is worth is Liberty out of Bayonne. Not saying that Liberty is a bad ship, but like Navigator, the pricing is ridiculous for what it is, and what it doesn't come with compared to other ships. OCSC Mike and Ampurp85 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottD Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 1 hour ago, Gilley said: I booked symphony and Odyssey out of New Jersey and Visions out of B-More for the reason that I want to see something else. Haven’t been to Labedee since the late nineties. So looking forward to that on Symphony. Going to New England/Canada on Visions. Small and old ship but lots of fun. I catch train round trip for $35 and hop in an Uber for $10-15. Still cheaper than flying to Miami. Doing a 12 day on Odyssey out of New Jersey and the itineraries are places I have been but it’s been over 10 years. I can take a break from PDCC. In fact I wanna stay on ship when I’m on Icon in May but I have a lot of first time cruisers traveling with me. I'd love to take the train up from Philly, I just see it being more of a hassle than it's worth with 3 of us and luggage. I guess I'll just fork over the 30 bucks a night for the car OCSC Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 37 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: Another ship that I have noticed is priced way beyond what it is worth is Liberty out of Bayonne. Not saying that Liberty is a bad ship, but like Navigator, the pricing is ridiculous for what it is, and what it doesn't come with compared to other ships. I haven't looked at Liberty's prices but that's how I felt about Adventure when it was released for PC. Sure, it's cheaper than Wonder (not saying much there) and I never priced group rates, but even as a frugal cruiser, like you said, the drop off in what it comes with is pretty significant. I wish they had left Mariner here. Not only do we have a sentimental attachment but it has Playmakers, Bamboo Room, Dog House, etc. Adventure has... ummm... not much. WAAAYTOOO, Sweety, Cactus527 and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilley Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 11 minutes ago, ScottD said: I'd love to take the train up from Philly, I just see it being more of a hassle than it's worth with 3 of us and luggage. I guess I'll just fork over the 30 bucks a night for the car It’s really not that bad unless you are talking lots of luggage. I saw a family of tree on the train, they seemed to manage well. You can upgrade your seats on the train too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottD Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 8 minutes ago, Gilley said: It’s really not that bad unless you are talking lots of luggage. I saw a family of tree on the train, they seemed to manage well. You can upgrade your seats on the train too. We pack lightly so maybe we will look into it this time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: Another ship that I have noticed is priced way beyond what it is worth is Liberty out of Bayonne. Not saying that Liberty is a bad ship, but like Navigator, the pricing is ridiculous for what it is, and what it doesn't come with compared to other ships. 3 hours ago, smokeybandit said: I still can't believe Navigator and Star have similar suite prices. Despite that Royal insists they can't include Voom on the older ship full suites because they are so much cheaper. Baked Alaska, dr martini, OCSC Mike and 2 others 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 13 hours ago, OCSC Mike said: Different strokes… some people sail for the ship & love CocoCay. I did a 3/4 B2B once, enjoyed it, and there’s a good chance I’ll do them again. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying, I love CocoCay as well and contrary to most people, I enjoy Nassau. I can't get behind going to the same place every 3-4 days though. I wish short cruises had more variety, though I do understand there are limited options as well when doing shorts. I think more than anything it just frustrates me that they use the two newest Oasis-class ships to do these short cruises. OCSC Mike and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrimsonCruiser Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 no freedom for me (was hoping she'd be doing longer voyages and was just not announced yet). Tossed a Navigator on the list. Doesn't look like Quantum will do longer than 6 nights. Cactus527 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 16 minutes ago, Lucky said: Don't misunderstand what I'm saying, I love CocoCay as well and contrary to most people, I enjoy Nassau. I can't get behind going to the same place every 3-4 days though. I wish short cruises had more variety, though I do understand there are limited options as well when doing shorts. I think more than anything it just frustrates me that they use the two newest Oasis-class ships to do these short cruises. I'm curious why they don't go to Bimini more. It can handle larger ships, but only Vision class stops there and only once in a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweety Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 I was able to booked three short cruises on Freedom. We like Freedom. We are doing a B2B. OCSC Mike, Snotarni, Cactus527 and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 13 hours ago, OCSC Mike said: I have our usual sail dates on hold while I wait for Wonder & Utopia group rates. My TA said he should have them tomorrow. Got Wonder prices so far... rates are about 20% higher than the same exact Wonder dates I'll be on this June and July. Not expecting Utopia to be any better but we save on some stuff there like no excursion $ spent if we're just doing Nassau/CocoCay so we'll see... Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 55 minutes ago, smokeybandit said: I'm curious why they don't go to Bimini more. It can handle larger ships, but only Vision class stops there and only once in a while. For one they need to blitz PDCC as much as possible. Spend there stays with Royal. For a second reason, the Bimini pier was built by a competitor. Going there puts money in someone else's pocket. Virgin has little choice. They need somewhere to go. They don't have their own port or private island so anywhere they go is putting money in someone else's pocket. Other cruise lines, not so much. Sweety 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 1 hour ago, twangster said: Despite that Royal insists they can't include Voom on the older ship full suites because they are so much cheaper. VOOM not included on non-QN/OA/IC class is one of the things that bother me the most actually. It's actually the reason why I told myself that after my bookings for this year that I have on Voyager and Adventure (booked those upon release a long time ago) I am going to steer clear of the smaller ships, unless there is some steal of a deal. I used to be ok with considering a smaller ship, despite their lack of a CK/SL, VOOM, etc. because of the price difference. But the last few rounds of deployments, no way. Not worth it. CrimsonCruiser, WAAAYTOOO, Cactus527 and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USCG Teacher Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 3 hours ago, ScottD said: We pack lightly so maybe we will look into it this time! It's really pretty easy, and even more so on the weekends when the NEC trains are much less crowded. The Ubers to/from the port eat up a bit of the savings, but being a passenger is always less stressful than driving, so there's that! ScottD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlmondFarmer Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 Now that I have made my bookings, I’ll share that pricing for Wonder in January/February 2026 is the best value for latest batch of releases. The delta above freedom class is small and delta for Utopia is large. WAAAYTOOO, Cactus527 and Snotarni 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonOasis Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 17 hours ago, Lucky said: The short sailings are so, so........so boring. 3-4 nights that go to CocoCay and Nassau repeatedly. I mean, yuck. The popularity of weekend sailing continues to grow as Matt posted on the main page Royal isn't the only cruise line devoting large cruise ships to the weekend 3/4 night sailing market out of Florida. Both NCL, Carnival and even MSC are devoting more of their fleet to 3/4 night cruises. I've done a few weekend cruises myself on Freedom and they are a lot of fun and they are the ultimate party cruise. Having said that I also feel your pain in that Royal has pulled back on European sailings in order to fuel their expansion in the weekend 3/4 night cruise market. These are the ebbs and flows of the travel industry even in the airline industry this coming summer neither United, Delta or American are planning record number of flights to Europe for 2024. Most are saying their summer European season this year will be flat or the same capacity as it was last year. But looking back summer of 2022 and summer 2023 there was unbridled growth to Europe from all these carriers however for summer 2024 Europe seems to be cooling off as Americans look elsewhere for vacation. This season of 3/4 night cruises will stick around for a few years but like any thing else as the market changes Royal will adjust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 58 minutes ago, AlmondFarmer said: Now that I have made my bookings, I’ll share that pricing for Wonder in January/February 2026 is the best value for latest batch of releases. The delta above freedom class is small and delta for Utopia is large. Agreed. Wonder for March 2026 I found to be decent pricing. Probably the best I have seen in two years. Wonder 8/17/2025 is awful, I think that has to do with Star inaugural cancellation. And Utopia is just bad all around. Snotarni 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTSRJS Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 Cape Liberty sailings still nothing showing up for March and April 2026? Does anyone have any ideas? I just booked a Celebrity repositioning cruise from FLL to Cape Liberty. ABC Islands but lots of relaxing at sea days. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaMG Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 35 minutes ago, CTSRJS said: Cape Liberty sailings still nothing showing up for March and April 2026? Does anyone have any ideas? I just booked a Celebrity repositioning cruise from FLL to Cape Liberty. ABC Islands but lots of relaxing at sea days. What sailing is that? Sounds interesting. With the disappointing lack of longer cruises out of FL on Royal, might need to start testing celebrity waters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTSRJS Posted February 28 Report Share Posted February 28 It’s the Celebrity Silhouette out of Ft Lauderdale on April 28, 2025 on a 10 day sailing. Stopping at Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. Repositioning to Cape Liberty NJ on May 8. So living in NY we will only have to take a one way short flight. So far 6 of us are going. Also booked a MSC out of Brooklyn end of 2024. Unfortunately Royals prices are so high. Made it to Diamond plus that will probably be our limit. FionaMG 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruzOnBye Posted February 29 Report Share Posted February 29 Noticed the sale changed again already lol. For example one we looked at for early 2026 went up in price $75 but they are providing $75 back in OBC. Even though we will happily take OBC for our DBP, it still bites when the base price goes up...especially day 2 of releasing the new schedule (I know, I know better!) We were gonna book last night but didn't have enough time to pin down what we wanted. Guess we're gonna call our TA tonight and book one for 2026 before it changes again and goes up with zero OBC Good luck out there! Hope everyone gets a good deal on their '26 bookings. OCSC Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted February 29 Report Share Posted February 29 17 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: Agreed. Wonder for March 2026 I found to be decent pricing. Probably the best I have seen in two years. Wonder 8/17/2025 is awful, I think that has to do with Star inaugural cancellation. And Utopia is just bad all around. Got Utopia group rates this morning and they were very similar to Wonder for my dates (factoring in OBC and 7N vs. 3/4 B2B). And as I mentioned earlier, there are some monetary benefits to shorties as far as extra spending goes. No excursions and D+ will cover all of our internet on a 3/4 since we share one account so "all-in" it's probably a little less expensive than Wonder. Still just have everything on hold until my better half is free to go over stuff but my guess is we'll be doing Utopia in June '25 and March '26. July was a bit higher and I'm not sure how many CocoCay B2B's we want to do so that one is more up in the air. Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokey79 Posted February 29 Report Share Posted February 29 16 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: Agreed. Wonder for March 2026 I found to be decent pricing. Probably the best I have seen in two years. Wonder 8/17/2025 is awful, I think that has to do with Star inaugural cancellation. And Utopia is just bad all around. I think I must have lucked out on my Utopia bookings but I do agree that Wonder has some decent pricing in late 25/26. I grabbed the RLS on a 4 day for 3 adults for about half what I paid for the room on Utopia. Granted it’s PDCC “again” but we wanted to sail on her and couldn’t ever make the dates work between my wife’s vacation schedule and the kids school breaks. Lovetocruise2002 and OCSC Mike 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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