The Scurvy Pirate

He was 7 years old. His parents are travel agents/bloggers and have toted him around on all of the cruises. The pinning ceremony was posted on you tube that occurred earlier this year.

From Cruise Industry News, May 9, 2023 Perfect Day at Coco Cay Driving Revenue at Royal Caribbean Royal Caribbean International plans to take 2.5 million guests to Perfect Day at CocoCay in 2023 as the company’s private island in the Bahamas has become a major selling point on itineraries. “The pricing premiums continue to be really robust, and the spend on the island continues to be really robust as well,” said Michael Bayley, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean International, speaking on the company’s first quarter earnings call. Bayley said the company had about 250,000 guests disembark at Perfect Day in March. Naftali Holtz, CFO, added: “The booking strength has been particularly evident on Caribbean sailings where our superior hardware and Perfect Day at CocoCay continue to be winning combination.” Holtz said that these itineraries are driving outsized yield and pricing growth. “As we’ve increased the volume, we’ve seen no decline in the power of the pricing. And in fact, it continues to accelerate. With Hideaway Beach, that will accommodate approximately 2,500 more guests,” added Bayley.

I have a small clip desk fan that I put in the checked luggage. In 5+ cruises I have never had any issues. It is a 110v U.S. plug in fan and not a USB (don't know why the type of plug in would necessarily make a difference).

In December 2019 it was trading at about $130. I had bought in at around $25 in 2012, and so I sold it to take a pretty good profit at years end, intending to buy again the next drop. In late February 2020 it was dropping (I didn't realize I was trying to catch a falling knife) and thought I was getting a deal when I bought back in at $97. I was thinking it was a temporary drop and would quickly get back up to the $130's. Boy was I wrong. I should have waited the two months and bought at $20. Life lesson...

Be warned, the "european" outlets are powered at 220 volts. Normal US outlets are 110 volts. If you plan on using a simple adapter to make it a normal US plug, you need to check the electrical item to make sure it says 220/110. If you are using an electrical item that can only run on 110 (for example a small desk fan), you will need to get an actual power converter (that does not have a surge protector) that converts it from 220 down to 110.

You can't do it on-line anymore but must now call C&A to request the bottle of wine, or whatever gift you choose. Once you are in the system, then you don't need to call again, unless of course you want to change the gift.

So, the child that earned, by his own right, Pinnacle status at age 8 (or whatever it was) would not have earned any cruise points? That will never happen as it would be absolutely contrary to RCI's new family friendly marketing. Why take your kids on a cruise when they don't earn their own points?

Buy my doctor gave us a note that said we need to each drink two glasses of red wine a day ... says a couple trying to take 7 bottles of wine on board at check in, as medication .... 🙂

Holy Cow. Just checked for my Aug 2024 cruise on Quantum. On May 2 the UDP was $226 today it is $327. 3 night jumped from $113 to $132. Although base prices for each restaurant remained the same, can we now anticipate a base price increase in the near future? Or is RCI trying to "catch" those who only rarely check prices who are now checking for a Memorial Day Sale that is not a sale at all?

We went from barely Diamond to Diamond+ in three cruises (at quadruple points for JS that were bookd during the Covid double points sales). Passed my brother in law, who has been cruising yearly for many many years in balconys. He was a little pissed/annoyed when he learned we now have more points than him. He didn't know about the covid double points cruises...

My wife takes a full can of Lysol each trip and pretty much sprays every surface (including the phone and tv remotes, comforter (and don't forget the hangers and the safe key pad)). She also brings some clorox wipes for use (just in case). She is a germaphobe and readily acknowledges it. We laugh that she would walk around in Kleenex tissue boxes like Howard Hughes if she could....

In 2020 a dozen red roses were $75.99 when ordered through the gift planner. In 2021 it bumped up to $79.99. In 2022 they jumped to $110.99. They have not been available for any 2023/24 cruises and have otherwise disappeared from the flowers "tab"..

If your mom plans to only drink the "free/included" beverages, the other, possibly cheaper option, may be to simply buy one deluxe package once you board the ship. You would have to compare the cost of the deluxe plus refreshment package bought through the planner versus the full price cost of the deluxe package. I know they will sometimes have the deluxe for sale as you board the ship, but don't know that they will discount it if you are just buying one. Once on board they don't require others in your room to buy a drink package. One option might be to try to buy your mom the soda package through the planner and then later call to see if you can order the deluxe for yourself, saying your mom already has a drink package. If they insist you have to buy the refresment then you would just pay the difference. I thought I had read someplace that someone had also gotten away with simply buying the $31 coffee card, but that could have been a complete fluke/mistake on the customer service reps part. But, it can't hurt to ask, especailly based upon your mother's age.

For the last 15+ years we always cruised during hurricane season. Up until last year, we have never had one impact the departure/arrival. Ian closed our home airport and our flight out the day before the cruise (and all flights to anywhere) was cancelled. Both FFL and MIA were open as the storm had already passed but we couldn't get out of our home town. So, we got a one-way car rental and left around midnight to get to Miami (9 hour drive). There was absolutely no traffic on I-95 (we were the only idiots driving through a hurricane). The biggest issue, which I didn't think about at the time, there were no gas stations open or they were out of gas. About 100 miles before empty we started looking. Finally found one open with 12 miles left pursuant to the gauge (never so happy to pay $5.25 a gallon for premium). On that same trip we did have tropical storm develop right on top of us as we were leaving the port in Aruba, so it was a little sketchy for the first hour until we got out from under it. One other time several years ago we skirted Hurricane Michael on Oasis (I believe). It was a little bumpy (super windy) but nothing too crazy while we slept, by the next morning nothing but sunshine. As noted above, if during the cruise the ship will go around it. If it hits one of the destination ports, they will either give an extra sea day or may change to a different port.

Well, that would limit it to Spectrum (2019), Odyssey, Wonder and Icon....

Or just buy the cheap plastic sleeve and not worry about having to buy/bring a hole punch (since they won't do it on the ship), and if you do it improperly, having to go to Guest Services to get a new card..... 🙂

Can you use an iphone to "cast" to the TV?

With the RFID sea pass cards, you don't have to hole punch them. I got the below sleeves. Like someone said above, if you buy a new lanyard they have the sleeve included (although it may not be waterproof). All you have to do is unclip the card and they can scan it without having to swipe the card. On the older ships without the RFID cards, I still hole punch the sea pass card. Sea Pass Plastic Sleeve

Basically... since you aren't supposed to hole punch the RFID because of the internal wire, I simply got a plastic sleeve for the card that I attached to my "clip" that you can hook/unhook from the lanyard. Since they don't actually have to swipe the card, it stays in the plastic sleeve all cruise. I have seen/heard where at some bars the patrons still had to remove the wow band so that the bartender could scan the card at the reader which was behind the bar. I prefer to use my trusty lanyard, even if I look a little dorky.

I could see them doing something similar to the "Key" under the "VIP Passes" section on the cruise planner. It would not be the particular room that is "sky" class, but there are a limited number of "sky" passes available. Alternatively, I could see them taking a few of the "hump" JS with a larger balcony or other perceived more desirable JS as a "sky" class suite. If RCI can generate an additional $1M per ship in income, and most likely the vast majority of the "full" suites won't know that there perqs have been diluted with an additional 10/20 passes, so to speak (other than things may seem more crowded), This would only make sense on the Oasis or newer class ships. How much could they charge per person per day for "free" wifi, access to the coastal kitchen, SL/CL and suite deck? They are charging anywhere between $30-$40 for the Key, which is wi-fi, priority boarding and departure and lunch on boarding day....

A few moments ago I received an "updated" receipt where it appears they manually input the price so that it was consistent with my original invoice. It appears they removed the various discounts and promotions, but my bottom line was the same.

This morning Chops + one was down to $74.99 (first time in over a year it had been lower) . All the individual restaurants were higher (10% off v. 15% off). Went back this afternoon and Chops + one was back to $84.99 and the individual restaurants still higher... mighty quick sale.... As to the internet price, the $18.99 seems to be the lower of the two "on sale" prices. You can alway buy now and then see what black friday brings. Usually, it is lower the week of black friday. You can cancel and then re-purchase at the lower price.

Just checked my reservation today and my temporary "guarantee" assignment was changed back to my original room. So, seems like no issues after they did whatever it was they did. It showed "GTY" for about 6 days.

Well crud.... Dear Guest, After completing an onboard stateroom audit of Quantum of the Seas, we found a discrepancy with your stateroom's category code, so we'll have to update its categorization on our August 19, 2024 sailing. Rest assured, your stateroom and all your amenities will remain the same. Kindly note, your reservation will be temporarily unavailable through May 10th, 2023 while we make these adjustments in the system. Just got this a few minutes ago....

You wonder if the sea pass pictures you take at check-in are stored in their system. I believe that they may use face recognition software on many ships so that they have analyzed facial characteristics. I hightly doubt the intial check-in person would have access to that, but maybe one of the supervisors could have access and pull up your picture from a previous cruise to confirm identity.