twangster

What ship?   Royal is very inconsistent with suite amenities.  

2 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

North America travel costs are a total rip off. If you price out 4-5 star Europe/Asia/South American land travel itineraries they are less than a cruise. I have a ton of proof of this and have posted in various threads over the past few years.

 

 

That's disgusting.... but not surprising. The human psychology is that we all have to belong to a special "club"  to feel better about ourselves and pay to get into it. We all need to say "I payed for a better day than you peons over there in the free area". Royal is a king of exploiting this.

It's not just travel costs in North America.  Try going to Europe.  Flights, hotels, food, etc.  Many South America destinations also.

You're from BC.  Not exactly the most economical province.  Housing makes it a very expensive area to move to.  Demand pricing is the definition of the real estate market.  Location, location, location.

Hideaway and many other optional purchases will always have demand pricing.  

Wow.  Saw the thread title, drew the wrong expectation.  🙂

Enjoy your cruise! 

On 8/31/2024 at 11:41 AM, Another_Critic said:

TAs aren't the bargain they used to be.  They are very popular now.

Nothing is the bargain it used to be.  Relative to some cruise home ports though, many TA's still look pretty attractive on a price per night basis. 

Royal will always test the market to see what people are willing to pay.  If they sell out quickly at $X that's a sign that market demand is there and the price can go higher.  Then they try selling it at $Y and see how the market responds.  

This is no different compared to anything else at Royal and it is how Royal maximizes revenue and margin.  

If you are an investor it's great.  If you are a consumer then maybe not so much.  However if the price increases and stays at the higher price then you can only blame fellow cruisers who are willing to pay more than you.  

Specialty dining pricing is much higher than I am willing to pay but others are willing to pay the higher prices so the prices remain higher.  You'll see this with everything at Royal.  From Voom to shore excursions to dining to beverage packages.

Voyager for sure.  Better venues, better live music options. Better pools, better pool deck bars.  

I was on Jewel for 26 nights in May.  CL bartender was top notch.  He went so far as to make a point of obtaining brands that were requested.  He might not have it on day one but he often would for the rest of the voyage.  
 

Sometimes he would go to great lengths to find a bottle of this or that, wine, beer or liquor, which sometimes meant going to different bars all over the ship to find one.  On longer cruises they can run out of some beer or wine in particular.  
 

The small bites offered are in warming trays, not room temperature and were tasty every night.  On wing night I made a meal out of them.  

3 hours ago, sgmn said:

Slightly off topic query.  If I as a diamond,  cruise celebrity as an elite, when I get to Diamond plus does my celebrity elite status automatically upgrade to elite plus or is it a one and done crossover 

Anyone know?

Yes.  As you level up it reflects the change on X automatically.  If it doesn't it's time to call them.  

3 hours ago, orville99 said:

Only useful for us if they extended it fleetwide since we refuse to ever sail on any of those classes again.

It was originally an offset for getting booted from Coastal Kitchen.  No other classes have CK, so...

1 hour ago, RFerrington said:

Wow, I am really surprised to see (small text at the bottom) that this $25 voucher actually WILL cover anywhere !  It's good at Chef's Table, Railway, Empire, even Izumi in the Park (and more, of course...but these really surprised me) !!!

Yeah, now I can get my PM burger and poppers covered 🙂 

15 minutes ago, verizon said:

Can any one here explain what is the $25 Specialty dining coupon ?

Is it just one time discount for Pinnacles ? 

Icon/Oasis/Quantum class only.  One time.  Some restrictions may apply.

This hot off the press (email arrived today, previously Icon was not included):

Great news! We've upgraded your specialty dining voucher. Valued Pinnacle Club members like you can now use their $25 specialty dining coupon at ANY venue during 5+ night sailings on Oasis Class and Quantum Class ships*.

What's more, we've expanded this benefit to the World's Best Family Vacation - the new Icon Class - so you can indulge to the max onboard Icon of the Seas^SM.

The information listed above is valid beginning on sailings departing August 30^th, 2024, and onward.

*Valid at specialty dining venues: 150 Central Park, Empire Supper Club, Chef's Table, Celebration Table, Royal Railway, Hooked Seafood, Giovanni's Table, Giovanni's Italian Kitchen, Jamie's Italian, Chops Grille, Izumi Hibachi & Sushi, Izumi in the Park, Izumi Omakase, Teppanyaki, Samba Grill, Sabor, The Mason Jar, Wonderland, Wonderland by Da Dong, Playmakers, Fish and Ships, Hot Pot, Johnny Rockets, Noodle Shop, Sichuan Red, Pier 7, Portside BBQ.

4 hours ago, little britain said:

LE Legacy

TR Treasure or Triumph

HE Heroine

 

🤷‍♀️

Let's do some Heroin this weekend!

When your TA is back ask them how best to handle this scenario.  Then you are prepared for the next time.  

In this situation I'd call but make sure the person you talk to has the whole picture.  If there was OBC or other items like free dinners ask them about that before blindly re-pricing in case these items will be lost in the re-price. 

12 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

If it was called Legend,why would that make it be going to the Pacific? 
But anyway they must be running out of room in the Caribbean.

I think they are and it's seriously impacting their revenue potential.  I'm sure Mr. Liberty has sleepless nights over it.  All that money being left on the table.  

For the moment the Caribbean is Royal's Field of Dreams.  "If you build it, they will come."

48 minutes ago, NanciRDH said:

I searched and this thread seemed to be closer to answering my questions.  I'm D+ and never get the drinks package, but next up is a cruise where my roommates want the pkg, so I'll need it too.  If I do manage to catch a sale, is the C&A discount stackable on top of that?  

I've had a similar need when cruising with my adult son.  He likes to get the DX, I don't.  Their solution was to buy it then once on board cancel it and rebook with the discount.  Once on board crew had no idea how to handle it.  It went back and forth and eventually they had to get some senior staff involved.  It was handled pretty badly.  

So now I'd suggest booking the refreshment package on the phone with Royal while your roommate buys the DX.  The last time I did that a few days later I discovered I could can cancel the refreshment package in the cruise planner without impact to the roommates DX.  Not sure if they have fixed that .  YMMV.  

Also on Anthem during its first stop in Miami they brought hundreds of RC employees on board, fed them lunch and had a presentation in the Two70 venue showcasing that venue.  Nick Weir, former SVP of entertainment did the spiel.  Many employees had never seen a Q class ship because back then they never home ported in Florida.  

For Icon I know travel agents are doing a tour in September but that's also Miami.  

SilverSea has a program where past guests can visit a ship during a port stop.  At least they did pre-pandemic.  Not sure they still do it.  Had to have sailed with them before.  

45 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Am I missing something? I have never heard Pinnacles only book interiors.  

You'll see it in suite lounge threads where many assume Pinnacle are in interiors "cheating" their into the lounge or when people try to downplay 700 points by calculating the cost as the cheapest interior cabin available in the last 10 years then doing the math based on that, as if those one-off deals are available all the time.

It's pretty common to see.

Could be nothing but this post showed up in my feed from RC Europe.

Your cruise will consist of two primary directions.  Southwest and Northwest.  There will be times there are other compass headings but in broad terms those are the two general directions of travel.  

West coast post-Panama is longer typically so Port will more see the sea and sunsets while Starboard will occasionally see land and sunrises, vice versa on the Southwest journey towards Panama.

Most of the time you will be at sea without a large land viewing opportunity.

Going up the West coast there will be some land on Starboard but often distant.  At times on the Northwest leg there will strong winds coming at the ship from land so the starboard side can get windy in select places.  

Often the land that is visible going up the West coast is shrouded in mist or so distant you don't get a clear view of land.  Still, some people like the idea of seeing land out there even if you don't see any detail.

My Radiance canal trip April 2023.

1 hour ago, Another_Critic said:

 

By the time I make Pinnacle, my 533 X points will probably be on the low side, since Ps are now moving to X and accumulating X points.

Have no fear, ask any non-Pinnacle on CC and most will state with absolute certainty that Pinnacle never book anything but interior cabins.  🙂 

Another data point:

Sailing on Reflection again in a week or so. Email arrived today.

I'm a Royal Zenith with 179 points and I made the threshold for Retreat Lounge access.  

Another Royal Zenith I know on the same sailing with 14 X points did not make the threshold and will not have Retreat Lounge access.  

Unknown how many Zenith on this next sailing.

So while X points don't matter they sort of still do if Retreat Lounge access is important to you. 

3 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Hopefully you have smoother seas than Serenade.  🤞

 

From the UWC thread:  "Rough night last evening. Had to cancel a lot and slow down. Looks like we are behind schedule.  John lost several beers as his room got tossed around".

 

Better bubble wrap your beer.  😄

Loss of beer is unacceptable.  

7 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

June 1 to November 30 is the full hurricane season.  That would basically be half the year that you would have to avoid.  And that only means that conditions are best for storms to develop during that period, not a certainty that at any given time they will.  With all of the ships sailing on all of the different Caribbean itineraries during that period the odds of a storm impacting any of them is relatively low IMO. 

Exactly.  If you can not tolerate the potential for a change in itinerary cruising is not for you

June is hurricane season in the Caribbean.  If you must have the ports of call on a cruise book outside of hurricane season.  This past June Icon had her complete itinerary changed due to a tropical storm.  The change was made a few days before departure.  

We sailed, had a great time, we were safe, but it was Western Caribbean instead of Eastern Caribbean.

I was perfectly fine with that but if you must visit certain ports of call or you will be disappointed cruising is not the way to accomplish that, especially in hurricane season.

3 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

One or two protestors losing an arm would likely end this type of protest. 

I have some thoughts and opinions on that but it would not likely end well for me so I'll stay on topic.