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New Paid Option for Shows in the Main Theater


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On 1/26/2018 at 3:04 PM, JLMoran said:

Come to NJ some time, Raye. You'll get an eye-opener for sure.

Granted, the burger joint I'm thinking of has the best damn burgers and home made potato chips I've ever had, and that $20+ also includes a pint of some seriously awesome local-area brewed trippel or porter.

I just paid $15.99 for a burger in Cape May last night.  Came with a bag of Lays chips.  Extra for drink, fries, anything else.  $9.95 for all included at JR sounds good right now. 

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On ‎1‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 9:33 PM, jurrjurr said:

I  am assuming the passengers that are booking those Royal Loft Suites are the ones who are going to pay for the VIP experience.

Actually, I think it's just the opposite.  Maybe RC thinks that people would be willing to pay $79 for the "star class" treatment without paying $20K for the star class suite.

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22 hours ago, CGTLH said:

Heck, staying in a Royal Loft they got the drink package and I'm sure the Genie can arrange a meet and greet. Plus the Genie is doing one up and getting seats reserved, not pointing to a VIP section.

Never stayed in the Royal Loft.. But you are correct.. As someone who has been lucky enough to have travelled in Star Class this is not something that would be any benefit to me. 

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Never would do that.....cruise lines will sooner or later have to realize they cant charge extra for EVERYTHING!

 

That used to be one of the things about cruising right?...you had access to everything and anything for the cruise price. But now, everything is becoming nickeled and dimed. I can assure you they made almost nothing off me on any cruise. I get my foods worth (I don't pay for "special" meals) and I defn end up lowering the cost of my drinks to about $4/drink based on my consumption...lol

 

But, I will never pay to see a bunch of cruise singers and dancers..sorry..."free" drink or not included......smdh

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  • 1 month later...
9 hours ago, Chris_Wallace said:

So jealous of you guys! At least you guys still get to choose between paid or complimentary shows.... My cruise planner still doesn't have the options to reserve Entertainment on my trip yet.... Only 34 days left till my trip on the Ovation! 

Wow, that's pretty late in the game for the entertainment options to still not be available.  Hope they come up soon !

Have a great cruise on Ovation.  One day I am coming to Asia to sail.  I lived in Okinawa for a number of years and I really miss Asia !

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9 hours ago, Chris_Wallace said:

So jealous of you guys! At least you guys still get to choose between paid or complimentary shows.... My cruise planner still doesn't have the options to reserve Entertainment on my trip yet.... Only 34 days left till my trip on the Ovation! 

If you are on Traditional Dining, I would try calling RCL and see if you can reserve show tickets over the phone.  You should be able to see all options for your itinerary this close to your cruise. 

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise!  Sailing on a Quantum class ship is on my RCCL bucket list. 

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10 hours ago, Chris_Wallace said:

So jealous of you guys! At least you guys still get to choose between paid or complimentary shows.... My cruise planner still doesn't have the options to reserve Entertainment on my trip yet.... Only 34 days left till my trip on the Ovation! 

On Ovation only Pixels is available for pre-booking.  Other entertainment is not bookable in advance.

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18 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said:

@jurrjurr...you're from Ontario...just go to Cape Liberty before Anthem possibly moves.  This sailing I'm on this coming Friday has so many Canadians (from Ontario) on board. 

I'm keeping my eye on Hawaii or Alaska itinerary when Ovation OTS goes there. 

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For now it seems like just an add-on experience, but I can't help but worry about what is to come years down the road. Remember when specialty restaurants came along and tons of cruisers were outraged? Now it is accepted and even embraced. Charging for shows is probably my worst fear when it comes to cruising and I really hope this isn't the beginning of the end for complimentary entertainment.

I also think $10 is rather steep for Johnny Rockets. In fact, I don't think there should be a charge for it at all. I have never been there on any of our cruises and burgers are one of my favorite foods. Johnny Rockets is good, but I'm not gonna pay to eat there when I'm surrounded by plenty of great complimentary food. Carnival has superior burgers and fries at Guy's Burger Joint included in the cruise fare.

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This is hilarious!  So for $75 I get to meet some no-name entertainers, who while possibly talented are NOT celebrities, and I get a cocktail.  Can't i but a cocktail for $12 at Schooners and bring it in with me?  Hell, I wouldn't pay $75 to meet Abba (and yes, I am a fan!)

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14 minutes ago, jce2 said:

This is hilarious!  So for $75 I get to meet some no-name entertainers, who while possibly talented are NOT celebrities, and I get a cocktail.  Can't i but a cocktail for $12 at Schooners and bring it in with me?  Hell, I wouldn't pay $75 to meet Abba (and yes, I am a fan!)

Last time I was on Allure OTS, the cast of Mama Mia were mingling with passengers at the pub and even singing along with the entertainer.  Do they still do that? Or did RCL change their policy?

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On 1/26/2018 at 11:07 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

My cruise planner for my upcoming Allure sailing has an option for an "insider" view of Mama Mia ! for $79 PER PERSON.  This special "event" includes a cocktail, a photograph. preferred seating (whatever that means) and a meet and greet with the cast members.
 

I have a June sailing on Allure and saw that when I went to make show reservations. Regular bookings are free like before. The way I took it when I saw it was that it is similar to the kitchen tour lunch in the MDR that is offered. I was easily able to book the show for free for everyone in my party.

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On ‎1‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 1:54 PM, monctonguy said:

Never would do that.....cruise lines will sooner or later have to realize they cant charge extra for EVERYTHING!

 

That used to be one of the things about cruising right?...you had access to everything and anything for the cruise price. But now, everything is becoming nickeled and dimed. I can assure you they made almost nothing off me on any cruise. I get my foods worth (I don't pay for "special" meals) and I defn end up lowering the cost of my drinks to about $4/drink based on my consumption...lol

 

But, I will never pay to see a bunch of cruise singers and dancers..sorry..."free" drink or not included......smdh

OMG I so agree with you Mon it is getting a little out of hand we as cruisers need to send a message by not buying there surveys no to rockets we have a rockets here in the mall of the melenia  in Orlando empty most of the time the rockets on the oasis is terrible they are nothing special as for the pay per view concept to the entertainment most of the shows I have seen onboard are high school level and mildly entertaining I don't go to most of them anyway so my feeling if they go through with there 79.00 plan they will be playing to empty seats I have a feeling the ships that still have theaters will test charging for seats.personally I had a problem with cruise lines paying there crew out of our pockets with what they call gratuities when if one thinks about it the amount of money generated through these gratuities every day from every person is huge I am willing to bet it comes close to covering the crew salaries which are meager at best I personally always take very good care of  individuals who WOW me and always pay my gratuities but I would just once love to be a fly on the wall and see exactly where the gratuity money goes with all the nickel and dimeing going on in Royal now days I think I know 

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Been on a number of RCL cruises…have seen a number of shows (best was the Beatles cover band on Serenade)…while most were entertaining, have NEVER seen a SINGLE one I would have been willing to pay for, let alone $79 !! These entertainers are Broadway, Nashville and Hollywood hopefuls who are trying to pad their CV (God love'm for their enthusiasm!) while waiting for their "big break." For those of a certain age, think "Summer Stock." On land, think flippin' burgers and cocktail waitresses, the day job to pay the rent. Not to knock their dreams, but not willing to pay to see their journey.

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On ‎1‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 12:07 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Guess what !  Royal is now charging for some of the shows in the main theater !

My cruise planner for my upcoming Allure sailing has an option for an "insider" view of Mama Mia ! for $79 PER PERSON.  This special "event" includes a cocktail, a photograph. preferred seating (whatever that means) and a meet and greet with the cast members.

What a joke !  I wouldn't even watch Mama Mia ! when it was free I'm SURE as he** not going to pay $79 PP (plus gratuity, I'm SURE) to see a bunch of cruise line singers and dancers perform.  It's even $79 for children - not that I would take a child to this show in the first place....

Are there going to be "free" showings of Mama Mia ! on this sailing ?  Hard to tell.  The only option for reserving this show in my Cruise Planner was the paid version but that MAY mean that you will be unable to make a reservation for anything except for the paid version.  There may still be free, unreserved performances.  I just don't know at this point.

It seems that this new paid option is showing up on many sailings (new CC thread) and everyone seems universally outraged.  I sure hope they end up with empty theaters for these paid performances or this may be something we will be seeing more of.

This is just a bridge WAAAYTOOO far as far as I'm concerned.  When they start charging for this second-rate entertainment they've gone waaay off the deep end.

you know this is starting to get ridiculous I have always considered Royal the best affordable cruise line in service but omg the nickel and dimeing is getting way out of control What do we do just accept it or do we complain over and over till we make them see the only way seems to be to hit them where it hurts in the pocket I for one will start sending Mike Baylee emails (which I am sure he will never see) expressing my opinion maybe if enough of these are received he will have to take note I love royal and have decided that my retirement will be to sail every ship in the fleet at least once before I cross the rainbow bridge let them know because believe me if they hear nothing they think everything is good and they will think up more stupid ideas like this one at the same time other lines are giving huge perks like free open bars not just for the elite but for all that book a cabin as a famous movie line once said I'm mad as h---l and I'm not gonna take it any more trust me folks if they get away with this absurditiy it will not end here CRUISE ON MY FRIENDS 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/26/2018 at 1:26 PM, arebee said:

Did you see they are "test" a higher cover charge for Johnny Rockets on the Oasis?  Going from $6.95 to $9.95.

Can confirm.  It was $9.95 on the Allure a few weeks ago.

On 3/9/2018 at 3:04 PM, cmcclelland said:

yikes - not worth it for a bogo milkshake

I asked about that.  You can go for just milkshakes and they won't charge you the cover if you don't order food.

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Reading these comments I'm curious as to the new web site they just released. I had made all my reservations for the shows on an upcoming cruse on the old web. since the new release all my show reservations are gone, and can't see or make any new entertainment,(shows) reservations. I'm wondering now if they pay per show is coming? If so, this will be my last.

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On 3/22/2018 at 12:45 PM, Orange Crush said:

Can confirm.  It was $9.95 on the Allure a few weeks ago.

I asked about that.  You can go for just milkshakes and they won't charge you the cover if you don't order food.

That's what we do.  Walk up to the person seating you, tell them you want milkshakes, and they get them for you.  You never even leave the hostess station.  We did it twice on Harmony.  Had to use both coupons, ya know...

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5 hours ago, [email protected] said:

Reading these comments I'm curious as to the new web site they just released. I had made all my reservations for the shows on an upcoming cruse on the old web. since the new release all my show reservations are gone, and can't see or make any new entertainment,(shows) reservations. I'm wondering now if they pay per show is coming? If so, this will be my last.

The pay per show thing was to pay for an experience, not to just sit and watch the show.  You got a meet & greet, backstage tour, drink, preferred seating kind of thing.  Shows are still complimentary to sit in the audience.  

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18 hours ago, KathyC said:

That's what we do.  Walk up to the person seating you, tell them you want milkshakes, and they get them for you.  You never even leave the hostess station.  We did it twice on Harmony.  Had to use both coupons, ya know...

thanks - we'll do the same - on Oasis on 4/22

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/29/2018 at 1:54 PM, monctonguy said:

Never would do that.....cruise lines will sooner or later have to realize they cant charge extra for EVERYTHING!

The sad part about this is that they will never have to realize this and can keep charging more. People will pay. Maybe not many of us here but the way they are marketing cruises now with iFly, Dodgem cars, FlowRider, water slides, kids programs, etc and now water parks on what used to be serene private islands its a whole new passenger demographic. They don't know what is "used to be like" and are willing to pay for just about anything. 15 years ago I never would have ever thought that I would pay $4.50 or more for a cup of coffee but now its normal. For vacations people are more willing to pay for an experience now than they ever were before and because of it we will continue to see nickel and diming happen not just on cruise ships but everywhere else. Its simple really. They charge more because people are willing to pay more. RCL is marketing itself as a family vacation destination now and as more families embrace this new option it creates a new stream of revenue. Instead of going to Epcot to have a faux international experience people can take their families to 2 or 3 different countries in a week and what a great opportunity that is for kids.

I personally have been thinking about trying Celebrity for this reason. I read this recently as a comparison:

Royal Caribbean has lower-priced entry-level cabins, larger ships, more emphasis on family travel and less emphasis on service, while Celebrity has slightly higher priced entry-level rooms and more emphasis on a refined experience and good service.

I am certainly not giving up on RCL myself but I can't change the direction that a multi-billion dollar cruise line is taking. Maybe its time to focus on what I want and will get out of my vacation dollar as opposed to feeling nostalgic for what it used to get me.

Just my humble opinion.

 

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On 3/6/2018 at 9:29 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Wow, that's pretty late in the game for the entertainment options to still not be available.  Hope they come up soon !

Have a great cruise on Ovation.  One day I am coming to Asia to sail.  I lived in Okinawa for a number of years and I really miss Asia !

I miss Oki too.

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