The Fun Researcher

This is really sad for those who aren't able to get into port at Labadee. It's such a beautiful laid back port. Something we look forward to every cruise that we've taken with Labadee as a stop.

I hope it's cleared up by the first week in April. Our kids loved it on their first cruise Dec 2014

Dan

So our 8 night Navigator, Apr. 2nd out of Ft. Lauderdale should be ok? We'll have our kids with us.

Dan

It was initially designed for Suite Guests only. When RCI discovered that the lounge as well as the Concierge was underused by Suite Guests, they allowed it to be a C&A Benefit for Diamond Members, because at that time that was the highest level in C&A. In October of 2004, Diamond Plus was the new tier level added, and, of course, D+ Members were also eligible for the Concierge Lounge along with Diamond Members.

 

At the time there were only Concierge Lounges on Radiance Class and above and they remained the same size, but the number of eligible C&A Members continued to grow. IMHO, this was something that was not considered when they made it a C&A benefit.

Thank you!

Dan

Please forgive my ignorance, but what was the point of a Concierge lounge in the first place?

Dan

Thanks for the review. After our 7 night Eastern on the Oasis last year, we don't plan to be back on an Oasis class ship. For all the reasons you mentioned, plus the disconnected feeling from the sea, terrible fitness center, people and more people everywhere, and the feeling like I'm on a floating hotel rather than cruising the seas.

I'm very interested to see what the Voyager class is like in a few months. We love the Freedom class so hope it's very similar. (which looks like it is from all my researching)

Dan

I'm still not seeing an easy way on the UK website to determine how full a ship is. Do you need to go into every category and look at the number of rooms offered? ...or is there an easier way?

I think I saw it somewhere, but anyone know what order the menus are in for this 8 night itinerary?

Dan

Thank you very much! We are doing this itinerary in April and love looking through these ahead of time. I've already reviewed the ones that Deptacon posted a while ago, and am interested to see how much (or not) these differ.

Dan

Have a link to the webcam?

Dan

Probably, but I have to say, we had a HUGE Latin presence on the Oasis this past May out of Ft. Lauderdale too so it's not only San Juan departures. :)

Dan

Blessings to you and your son as you attempt this cool idea!

Hoping it works out great!

Dan

Even if we broke even (I think it was in our favor) I would purchase again. It was nice trying new drinks and not having to worry about a bill at the end of our cruise.

This is a huge factor. Not having to get upset looking at the receipt every time I order a drink. :) With the price spike last year for OOP drinks, I would really enjoy not looking at those receipts (or lack thereof since the price has kept me from enjoying as many cocktails)

Dan

Not all drink prices skyrocketed. Yes, specialty cocktail pricing was an eyeopener when $14 prices were seen. But a basic drink like a vodka tonic is still reasonably priced. Basic American beers are still reasonably priced. I think Royal wants people to buy the packages and they raised the specialty drink prices to get people to see the value in buying a package. Like it or not, it is what it is. The prices will go to what the market will bear. That's capitalism for ya! :D

 

As far as the gratuities, I know people that got upset at the 15% and I also know people who tip extra for every drink. There is a wide opinion about gratuities.

My example: A simple Captain Morgan's on the rocks went from $6.50 Feb 2014 to $9.50 May 2015. 46% increase. When I got the receipt for my drink this past May I about spit my drink out. Drink prices reached the point where I personally just couldn't justify or enjoy it.

I agree with you fully about RCI pushing the packages, and determining what people will bear for prices. Problem is, that's not good for our pockets, and it's already reached my tipping point (no pun intended)

Funny thing is, when cocktail prices were lower I would add at least $1 to every drink. Now that they are so high, I won't. (Unless the service is truly spectacular)The bartenders are, unfortunately, making much less from me now. Not to mention that I'm ordering less drinks.

Dan

Not sure what all the comments about price increases are all about. The increase from 15% to 18% for automatic gratuities happened some time ago. A 3% raise for the bar servers seems appropriate. It had been at 15% for years. Don't most people get a raise once in a while? 3% is hardly a shock to the pocketbook.

 

The drink packages haven't gone up. We purchased our 7 day premium package a few weeks ago and we were charged $399 per person. $798 all in for two adults, hardly a shock to the pocketbook if you are a consumer of alcohol. You aren't forced to purchase it you know.

 

The price of the cruises hasn't really gone up. In 2003 and 2004 we paid the same for Royal Ships cruising out of Galveston for 7 nights over spring break. The last three years we have sailed spring break out of Galveston and in 20014 and 2015 we paid less for a JS than we did for a balcony cabin back in '03 and '04. This year we are paying about $100 less than we did 12 -13 years ago. Hardly a price increase at all.

 

I think maybe people who sailed very inexpensively when the economy tanked in 2008 and the immediate years after think prices have gone up because the economy is so much stronger now and can tolerate current pricing. But todays prices looked at historically over 10 - 15 years are not really higher for the cabins. Sure some things aren't included anymore but new things are available that are included.

 

Cruising is still a great value.

IMO, the gratuity % increase was totally unnecessary since the drink prices (paying out of pocket, not the drink packages) skyrocketed this past spring. Even if the gratuity had stayed at 15%, their gratuity per drink went way up.

Dan

Panoramic OV staterooms are on Freedom, Voyager, Explorer, and Navigator. Being added to Liberty now.

As always, thanks Bob. Much appreciated. I'll call about it. Very intriguing for future cruises.

Dan

Are these rooms available on all Voyager and Freedom class ships? I hadn't heard about them before. We've done connecting staterooms but nothing where all 5 could fit in one room. We have connecting rooms booked again for April this year on the Navigator,

Wondering about the Navigator? When a room has "Family" in the title, does that normally mean it sleeps 5 instead of the typical 2-4?

We are a family of 5. Sounds like these Family Panoramic ocean view rooms could work for us?

Dan

The balconies on Freedom class are attached to the outside of the ship, just like the second gen Voyager class ships Navigator and Mariner. The balcony does not take away from the size of the stateroom.

Ah, good to know! I almost went back and edited my post, because the more I looked at the balcony room sizes it looks like it's all over the place for both Freedom and Voyager classes. Anywhere from about 175 sq ft to 220 sq ft, roughly.

Dan

Liberty's balconies were built away from the superstructure, Adventures were built within the superstructure making them smaller.

At first I was confused by this, but then I realized you must be talking about the balcony itself, not the room.

Looks like the room itself is larger on the Voyager Class, at 206 sq ft, versus 189 sq. ft. on the Freedom Class.

So does the larger balcony on the Freedom class take away from the size of the room itself (versus the Voyager class). Kinda appears that way.

Dan

Correct, pizza slices (but not whole pizzas) are in Cafe Promenade on Voyager class.

Funny you say that about the whole pizzas, because this was a big issue for us on the Oasis. We would be waiting in line waiting to get our slice or two from what was being offered only to have the person in front of us take the whole dang pizza!!! Happened to us at least 4 times, and no, we do not spend our day hanging out at Sorrento's :), this was in that 11pm-1am time frame when we are ready for a snack before bed.

So after having this happen repeatedly, I finally had enough. So me, being me, politely asked this particular guy why he was taking a whole pizza (actually, I think he grabbed two whole pizzas) when there was obviously a line of people waiting. They both had just come out of the oven. His answer? I have hungry teenagers up in our room! My thought? Well send them down to get in line like everyone else!

We never had anyone take a whole pizza on our other cruises. Maybe we have been lucky :)

Dan

no pizza :(

Funny you say that. I researched and researched this, since the late night pizza was a big deal for us on the Freedom and Independence. (especially our kids)

We're cruising on the Navigator (same class ship) and found out that the pizza is found in the Cafe Promenade instead of Sorrento's (which doesn't exist on Voyager class)

I assume Adventure is the same.

Dan

Adventure and Liberty are MUCH more similar than Liberty and Oasis. I can't state that for fact since I haven't been on Voyager class yet (but will in April). However, from all the researching I've done, I'm surprised how similar the two ships are.

We have been on the Freedom Class (Liberty) and the Oasis Class (Oasis) and the Oasis class is a different beast altogether. After sailing Oasis, we prefer the Freedom class and are hoping the Voyager class (Navigator) meets our needs in April.

My guess... if you like Liberty, you will like Adventure. Very similar offerings, much more so than Liberty and Oasis.

Dan

Never been there, but sounds like you went into port with very low expectations. That helps. :)

Glad you enjoyed it. Looking forward to new ports myself, and I wouldn't mind checking it out.

Dan

HappyCampers3, I don't think you are being unreasonable at all! I would be upset too. ...especially for your first cruise as a Diamond.

Clearly there was a mixup by RCI, but that still doesn't make it ok.

Dan

We've never purchased the premium packages but HAVE purchased the soda package each trip. Just yesterday I was checking prices and the soda package was $8. Now $9.42? That an 18% increase!!! I think the kids soda package was $5.50 so that's now a 71% hike!!!

Not happy. I'm getting tired of these substantial increases. Looking to cruise on another cruise line next, partly due to this. The out of pocket drink prices skyrocketed this past spring, specialty dining has gone up a lot the past couple of years, and now the drink packages! Way beyond inflationary rates.

Dan

Yes, you get the soda cup with all unlimited packages.

I did on the FOS, you needed it to use the freestyle coke machines.

Thanks! I'm thinking about getting the premium package for my wife. She has purchased the soda package every past cruise anyway, which is now $8 pp per night, so adding on the premium package for her is like adding $49 a night. I also like the bottle water. Huge plus.

This would be for our upcoming 8 night eastern cruise with the sail away, 3 sea days and 4 port days.

We could both easily come out ahead on the cost of the package if we wanted to, but we've been more reserved with drinking on our past cruises due to the high (especially since this spring! dang!:mad:) drink prices on the ships. Our bar tab on past cruises has been pretty far below what the package cost is, but like I said, we held back many times when we didn't necessarily want to.:(

Seems as though it's about a 3 to 1 ratio for those that would absolutely do it again, versus those that wouldn't so the odds are in our favor of being glad we bought it. :)

Dan