Cruiseathoning

the food is foodier than the old menu. Somewhat hit and miss-but the lunches, especially Guy's Burgers are amazing.

They will be fine.

I wasn't going to post. I really wasn't. Then I read some post about the bad American Table menu and had to comment. The truth is, the MDR is fine. Not spectacular, not extravagant, but you can find something tasty and well-prepared most any evening. Also, healthy. With selections of fish, chicken, and salmon you can protect your heart and your waistline.

American Table is just a name. I say that because the menu is evolving. Some nights you might find lasagna, or others you might find Shrimp Creole-and it seems to vary cruise to cruise. Carnival is still working on the best fit for its passengers. One oft overlooked element is the port of call menu. Here you can find port inspired exotic favorites that are often the best offerings.

That said, if clam chowder with crab cake and Jumbo shrimp is not for you, might I suggest a bisque? Perhaps prime rib is more your thing. See where I am going with this?

Look, the fellow who complained has a right to. But complaints without context irk me. This ship is a marvel. You pay, you know, $500-850 a person and get an IS or balcony, and for that you get a week of..

Professional stage productions, professional comedians, all the trivia you could want, karaoke, excellent drinks, a ridiculously wide array of lunch options-Mexican, Mongolian, BBQ, Salad, standard "taste of nations" buffet changing daily, a pasta bar and a TANDOOR.

You also get, free movies on a gorgeous HD outdoor big screen, ice carvings, various contests, Bingo, a chance to be a star in the Legends show-there was good talent on the most recent run to KW/BAH, dance classes, the chance to make friends and the Quest-which if you are good boys and girls I will fill you in on.

Now NCL specialty dining is better food. And there is no Broadway on this ship. But Carnival, especially this crew, excels at CONNECTING. You take Curly the entertainment host with you when you leave. He becomes part of your family memories. He engages. So does Arsana, the 21 yr vet of the dining room scene, always friendly, always on point, as Willie Degel likes to say.

Then there is Disna, a loyal, attentive, and warm steward who literally bends over backward to please. Sure there is not exclusively anytime dining-but do you know what you lose with anytime dining?

Seatmates. Friends that you make, and get to know, and plan future trips and cruises with, you know, actual human interaction. That sort of thing used to be important. Yes Royal does some things spectacularly, so does NCL, and Carnival is not spectacular. But it is indescribably fun-the intangibles, the friendliness, the camaraderie, the hugs, pics, and smiles and hand slapping when you when a game of washer toss-these things add up to joy.

I left the ship and remarked to my Wife that Carnival gave us a great deal of fun and created an environment of whimsy. While NCL delivers Rock of Ages, there is rarely anything special for lunch and the trivia is few and far between. That may not matter to some of you, but it matters to a lot of us. The chance to "goof off", grab a drink, and playfully argue over deodorant slogans is a welcome respite from the formalities of day to day life.

Yes the cornmeal chicken was cardboard. So bleeping what? Arsana just brings you something else-in my case a good steak with a baked potato. Oh, the horror.

Maybe it is me. I grew up poor poor. So the chance-whenever it presents itself, to go on a ship and be treated like a King and make friends and have fun and escape from the everyday is a blessing to us. So maybe I look at a piece of steak and get giddy while others pine for better cuts. I myself have had better.

But I looked at my facebook, and it is stunning how many of my friends are from Carnival, either pax or crew. Stunning. And we keep in touch. None from Royal, or NCL though. Does that mean something to some of you? Maybe maybe not. But while Carnival does nothing spectacularly, it does most everything very well. Now I love Royal, and NCL delivered top notch food and entertainment on our anniversary trip, top notch. But it did not feel like leaving my best friends when I left those ships. With Carnival, it is like I am leaving family and as soon as I get home, I want to plan another one.

I mean we were on smoky Freedom, and that was its biggest-albeit a large problem, and after being aggravated about the smoke, we still remembered Jen's energy and hugs, and support, and Majda's willingness to fill our glasses with Arnold Palmers upon arrival at dinner, and Symogi's humor, and, we booked the Magic.

And if you have a booking for the Magic, be prepared to smile, laugh, dance, drink, eat, play, swim, relax, and re-connect with family. You will have a spectacular time.

Uh, maybe Carnival DOES do some things spectacularly well. Deliver fun, make awesome memories, and help to foster lifelong friendships. If those things matter, you overlook the odd serving of cardboard chicken..

and then you ask one of your new best friends to bring you a steak.

Have fun, cruise often.

Does anybody know what my chances are of getting a place onboard for Sunday are? Trying to get us on a cruise and not much out there. Any tricks, good agents, anything that can help?

Anybody stuck with non-refundables that can be transferred? Thanks.

Two big problems Royal has in terms of marketing-for the seasoned cruiser, gimmicks and value are not synonymous and secondly, the American base is steadily growing downmarket with people who are much less discriminating about quality and more concerned about price.

Royal has built ships that necessarily position themselves upmarket because they can not afford to sail at $370 pp Voyager, $510 pp Freedom class, $700 Oasis and so on. But they can't seem to convince enough people to budge from that price point and abandon the NCLs and Carnivals of the world. Sure they sail full-at low prices. But like a shark waiting for the hull to breach, a whole bunch of low spending fishy are waiting to fall into Carnival's mouth the minute Royal tries to price itself as a luxury line.

In the end there is only one way to get me to fork out premium cash, and it is not flow riders, ziplines, or laser lights, it is service. Top notch, floor to ceiling start to finish service.

Royal is a good value to me, because they are pricing themselves roughly similar to Carnival, and obviously if you can choose between the two at the same price..duh.

But much higher I will move onto Celebrity or beyond to avoid children and get better food. Just my thoughts.

China can not replace the American cruising market. RCI will sink or swim on the American market. Many of you understand business, but few of you know the politics that rules the business.

Leave it at that. But don't worry about China.

They can't abandon the large ships in the American market. And I think they will adjust their discounting window, not their frequency. The ships have to sail full, because of fixed costs.

But the pricing will be what the people are willing to pay. If they will pay through the nose then I might have a Dyson attached to my beak if I want to cruise with my family. If they won't the prices will stay moderate. They will charge what they can get as is the way of the free market economy.

While the other day I wrote about Mr. Fain's hubris, the fact is of all the lines we have traveled nobody has come close to delivering what Royal Caribbean does, especially with the Voyager class, especially on the Navigator.

Now when I say not close, I mean Carnival and NCL are playing horseshoes and leaving those buggers hung up in a tree. The food quality may have gone done from years past-our first RCI was 2007-but on the Navigator in September we did not notice it. The Windjammer has always been clean and serviceable, if not enthralling, but truthfully, compared to Carnival and NCL it is Morton's Steakhouse.

So when I peruse the latest reviews for the Navigator, I take some offense to the insults or nit picky criticisms. This is my favorite ship. Not too big, not too small, amazing amenities, and wonderful entertainment. And if you book this marvel on a low demand date, early fall, early winter, you can at times get it for around $400pp.

Let me repeat that-for two people with port fees, insurance, and gratuities, you can have an amazing time and have no need to spend a dime on the ship for around $1300 for a seven day cruise. I know-I have done it. After adding internet and a few drinks, hotels, gas and parking, we came in a shade over $1600.

Sure it is more expensive at different times, bu that is just demand, the law of the economic land. Book a good deal if you can.

As far as the reviewer issues, four big ones come to mind:

ONE-Do not say there was norovirus on the ship because you saw hand sanitizers and tong changes. Accusing a ship of norovirus is like accusing a rental car company of poor brake maintenance. All lines to my knowledge provide "washy washy." As well they should. This does not mean norovirus is on the ship anymore than it means Capt. Stubing is making a guest appearance. So when you casually mention, "norovirus was present on the ship," in declarative fashion, you are doing major damage to the reputation of the line-and quite possibly dissuading a family from taking an amazing and affordable vacation.

This is the CDC's link for norovirus info-as you can see the Legend, not the Navigator, is listed. If the person responsible for that review is reading this, please edit your review.

TWO-Just because Mickey Mouse is not giving piggyback rides to your kids does not mean the line is inferior to Disney. To the contrary, Royal has made great strides in providing quality amenities and activities for children. Some might say too much. But that aside, Royal is NOT Disney. Royal is not competing at that price point. Royal is not marketing specifically to Disney loyalists. If you want to pay five times the cost to ride the Ship House of Mouse, by all means do so. But constantly negatively comparing the two lines is like blaming Cheesecake Factory for not being The French Laundry. If the worst restaurant you ever encounter is Cheesecake Factory you are doing quite well. Appreciate RCI for what it is instead of complaining about what it isn't.

THREE-The ship does not stop what it is doing for your "little ones." You can complain about late show times all you want, but cruising was not designed

to be Disneyworld. This is a recent development. If you miss shows because of your children, either utilize Royal's camp service, or leave them at home. This may sound cold. Brrr. Good. The United States in general is suffering from a Bossy Mommy Crisis affecting everything from baseball game start times, (6:35 on a weekday? Some of us deal with rush hour you know!) to our favorite restaurants being destroyed by "kids eating free."

Do I dislike children? For many of them, I dislike the person they are being molded into. But I think it is not so much the child-kids are not born belligerent miscreants, as much as the narcissistic attitude allowed to develop within them because of poor parenting philosophy, in my opinion. We don't have kids, but I know I was disciplined, and I can tell many children were not.

So if we adults want to enjoy a hard-earned vacation with mature themes to shows, some delicious libations, and sophisticated dining, please do not say the following-"This food is weird, do you have anything normal?" There is a difference between pedestrian and invigorating. Expand your horizons.

"I wish there was less drinking, because my children see it." Like they don't see it a home. Unless you are a Mormon, or a recovering alcoholic, save the sanctimony.

"The shows and dinnertime need to start earlier so my "little ones" can enjoy them. Cruising was not invented for "little ones." It was invented for discerning adults with discriminating taste. Put another way, your family with children are welcome, the lines have made massive accommodations to appeal to you, and we DINKS have gone out of our way to be accepting. But if this was a party, please do not mistake yourself for the French Onion dip-you are the diet cola. Remember that. Is this rude? Yes. Is it offensive? To some, almost assuredly. Is it a truth other people fear to speak? Absobleepinlutely. Now as is the case with most groups of people, not all families are the boil on the SS Cruise Butt. So I need to take this time to praise the outstanding parents and families we share our cruises with, who number many. Thank you for doing a good job with your kids, and know that you are held in different regard than the above mentioned.

FOUR-Look at the above price. Even add a bit to that. Now consider for that range, the ability to be fed, entertained, make friends, and not touch car keys for a week, then tell me if Mr. Fain's company delivers value. On the Navigator you can watch comedians, do karaoke, play trivia, fold napkins, make guacamole, do crafting, dance, eat good food, enjoy good drinks, (including Starbucks) see brand named entertainers, watch professional musical productions, embarrass your Wife (or Husband) in a Love and Marriage game, win prizes, play bingo, play blackjack, play basketball, ping pong, and volleyball, take in a lido deck movie on an HD screen, eat breakfast on your balcony, reconnect with your spouse (read between the lines on that one) climb a rock wall, surf, watch an ice show, and ice skate.

And you want to talk about value. The Navigator is an otherwordly dream vacation, and don't let Negative Nellies convince you otherwise. Book her. Ride her. Then thank me later.

Prices would not have dropped in the first place if enough "spenders" were booking in the first place genius.

Hi Whitecap in my experience RCCL cruisers are nothing like this person.

And he is probably a poser anyway-if you have real jack you are on Crystal or Regent, right?

The rich arrogant people I deal with I am ok with because they have legit bank. The deluded arrogant "upper middle class guy" in a mountain of debt annoys me to extremes.

He will put down a fellow who works as a tow truck driver who saves for eons to do something special never being smart enough to realize his entire financial well-being is dependent on a three digit score arbitrarily calculated by people he will never meet. He needs to be cool to that tow truck driver because they are closer in need and class than he realizes, but the ego simply won't allow it.

Enjoy your cruise and welcome to the RCCL cruiser family.

My "diatribe" is reality. The consumer controls the price through demand. You can only charge what the market supports. We are the market.

The way economics works Gregg is that a producer creates a service or product and charges a price point that will ensure profit, but can only charge what his target market will pay.

Moving a price even 2 percent has been known to tank year over year sales growth-try a Capstone model if you can get a hold of one. Very informative and instructive.

Except none of that is going to happen CoachT. The Texas economy is going to struggle, and Florida's is worse.

The discounting is not coming to an end. If anything prices are about to drop. By the way, are you a Feudalism fan? You seem to like to denigrate "serfs."

In other words, you come off like an unpleasant elitist. BTW, onboard revenue can't drop for filling otherwise empty rooms, unless you are making some kind of claim that the "cheap cruisers" are forcing the big spenders to be hesitant about spending.

You probably like your gated communities, your "good schools" and your lack of diversity too. I think I know exactly what you are.

But middle class and minorites will still cruise, like it or not. And yes, you deserve that comment. There is only one reason people are willing to pay higher pricing when it comes to avoiding "class" of people.

Mine is the Voyager class. Big ship fun, manageable crowds. I think that Royal nailed the refurb on them, and I love the sports deck.

We have done Freedom, and Liberty is coming to our more easily accessible port (Galveston) with Oasis class upgrades. This is enticing, particularly the Saturday Night Fever show, but concerned about the crowds-Freedom was very crowded, although nicely appointed and immensely entertaining.

But wondering if some karaoke, some trivia, some good shows and fun ports might be much more enjoyable on a ship with 2000 PAX, not 4-6. At what point is classic cruising with elbow room just nicer on a smaller ship than BIG SHIP VEGAS cruising shoulder to shoulder? Give me your thoughts on this subject, thanks.

While Royal CEO Richard Fain promises no more last minute discounting, I am reminded of the conversation I once had as a kid with a pitcher about the knuckleball-"I just throw it-it does what it wants to do." Meaning of course that you can only dictate the movement of a pitch so ephemeral that catches wear protection for their fingers.

Such is the modern economy. He can't control passenger demand unless he can control passenger salary-until then, they have to deliver value as adjudged by the consumer.

It is very cute Mr. Fain says he has a say. If you read his statement carefully, it almost convinces you he believes it-but he doesn't.

Two things-one WE CONTROL THE SHOW. Not him. We either book, or we don't. Period. And we will book when we feel the value is there. Period. Second of all, if you book early, and then the cruise is later discounted, reward early bookings with equivalent onboard credit. If you don't want to do that, you can deal with angry passengers or empty rooms-their choice, their problem.

But the reason he has no choice in the matter, is no matter what bright notions the board of executives have, empty cabins are a pain not easily tolerated. Sure they may talk a good game, but sunk cost is sunk cost, and nothing depletes share value like lost revenue. These ships can not afford to sail less than 95 percent full-they know it, we know it, and there is no confusion.

If the ships book there will be no deals. If they don't they will either deal, or go bankrupt, again, their choice. And the first choice they will make were that to happen is to pink slip Mr. Fain.

This is just a dog and pony show for shareholders. They have no ability to tell people to pay through the nose and like it and risk sailing with stock tanking occupancy rates. Supply and demand will always rule the free market economy, and demand based pricing will determine the future of any business.

Nobody is forced to take a cruise for a vacation. There are other options. But another thing King Richard is also forgetting, is he decided to put a Freedom class ship in Texas, with Oasis upgrades, the Liberty, just as the oil bust is taking hold. Whoops. He can't afford to get crushed in Galveston-Texas is simply too vital to lose. And one thing Texans will not do, is deal from weakness. Not only that, but Galveston is the epicenter of middle America cruise traveling. Folks from all over the midwest and south often drive to the port, making it more affordable for families otherwise unable to go on a more expensive trip.

Big talk may temporarily support a stock value floor, but it does nothing for vacationers who are discerning and careful with their vacation dollar. To suggest that a take it or leave it approach is even feasible is the height of hubris, or judging from Royal's stock price-desperation.

Royal is making giant ships with huge overhead, when for my dollars, Freedom class is enough. Past 3, 4 thousand people I start to get uncomfortable with the concept. I believe the jewel of the line are their midsize Voyager class-first class amenities, the ability to put on top level shows, and not overcrowded.

Soon enough the novelty of these behemoths will wear out, and the reality of the crowds, expense, and nickel and diming will set in. I personally do cruise for amenities, and entertainment, and of course food-but ultimately, most of us cruise for the beauty of the sea.

The desires and tastes of Americans and Canadians are constantly evolving, much like the rotation of a baseball with no spin, caught in a sudden breeze on a three-two count. You never know if the batter will swing wildly, or send your offering into the upper deck. So talk on Mr. Fain, be bold, and overbearing about your pitch, fail to gauge the wind, the count, the runner leading off of first, and see where your next hanger goes.

Because in this economic era-it will be a long time before anyone is confident about their fastball.

Really.

One huge thing Royal does better is to make sure that the venues are adequate for the demand.

Carnival fails spectacularly at this.

It is not a taste bud thing, it is a freshness and quality ingredient thing. Not chemical filled, solution laden garbage thing.

Do you know why you gain weight on cruises? It isn't the calories. It is the water retention.

If Carnival has a full staff, a Spirit class to Hawaii is a fine choice. More refinement than the usual ships, and nice nooks and crannies to relax. Also much fewer passengers. If they have not restocked, they are not worth the savings.

I think way too many people think Carnival is real cruising. It isn't. It is vacationing. The same could be said for any mass market line. It is a misunderstanding of the genre. Still, with the kind of vacation Carnival used to invest in, you could enjoy most every meal-cruise for the food, so to speak. But it appears that their customer base is so beaten down that they take just about anything in stride. That is not how I tend to roll.

You deserve better, whether you realize it or not. And Miami can deliver better.

On Voyager class and above I have seen the Texas Tenors and Micky Dolenz, (Freedom class). One of the major mistakes Carnival made was reserving their concerts for booze cruises, and then charging on top of that.

Price the cruise where you have to price it and let the chips fall where they may. Fooling people once keeps them from sailing you twice.

It's a generational thing. Before long you will see theme parks on cruise ships. The entertainment is only going to expand. Ports are ok, but the trend is cruising for the ship. Some old timers resent that. I embrace it but I am younger. But more and more each cruise, I find my brilliant idea have having "the ship to myself" on port days is shared by half of the ship.

Part of this is the growing dangers of these ports. Part of it is the homogeneity of these places, Diamonds Intl, cheap junk t-shirt shops, Senor Frogs..

Part of this is that the real port experience is reserved for the upmarket lines, and thus out of the reach of much of the middle class, so they choose to find a ship that offers them a mini Vegas at sea, without hopefully the downfalls of the real Vegas.

With the mass market lines you are only nominally on a cruise, in that you may spend more time ice skating than enjoying the sea. It is more of a vacation destination that a relaxation option. I think because I just about split the difference between cruising for the sea and for the fun, Royal fits me best, but am interested in Celebrity, and Princess is nice too. Carnival has lost its fun vibe because of staff cuts. And without the fun, Carnival has no refinement to fall back on.

Except there is no upbeat vibe anymore-Royal is the party line now. Deck parties, promenade parties-let me give you some info, that might illuminate things.

The smallest ship in the fleet, the Fantasy, was once required to have a minimum of 7 entertainment hosts. The Freedom, a Conquest class ship carrying about 3,000 passengers, had THREE. THIS is why there were next to no organized daytime activities.

What you say is something that was true-at one time.

Just not the present time.

For anyone reading this-comparing a Carnival production to a Royal production is like comparing Taco Bell to Cantina Laredo.

It is not even close-Royal uses a full staff, brings in NAMED entertainers, and uses live music. Can't believe such statements are made with a straight face.

Playlist productions are a cutback, no matter what they say.

Dutch girl you could not be more off. The correct statement is for those who cruise for entertainment, the timing has never been better. The trend is towards big bold entertainment, and if Carnival can not keep up, they will be left behind.

Elation has a certain intangible charm to her.