twangster

Let's use real numbers. My first cruise on Royal was in an Oasis loft suite. I was pre-gold so I had no CAS discounts or other crazy rates to leverage. The website rate for a fall school break cruise was $5,936 for two guests. My cabin mate was a school teacher so we had to cruise that specific week with no ability to shop weeks for the lowest rate. My second Royal cruise was a year later in an Allure loft suite on another ship at $5,529 for two guests as a gold member so no CAS discounts. My 3rd cruise in a Harmony GS a year later was $4,218 for two guests as a gold member so no CAS discounts. All were sky class so I got to use the SL and CK. We had no issues getting seats. On my first cruise I met a Pinnacle member named Bill who explained the whole CAS to me. Pretty cool I thought but I'll never be able to reach 700. Bill was also on my 3rd cruise and he used his Pinnacle influence to get some Guinness in the SL. He had lunch with the FBM he told me, and that night Guinness appeared in the SL. Nice guy and I appreciated having Guinness in the SL. Before that it was only basic beers in the SL. My average spend across the three cruises was $5,224 per cruise for sky class. I wasn't a casino player, no CAS discounts, no weird super secret TA deals. Newbie booking cruises on the website. Twelve cruises times $5,224 each equals $63k in spend. That's a fraction of what most Pinnacle Club members have contributed to get where they are. That's real word spend. Not some imaginary most or least expensive suite with casino discounts or GGG or CAS balcony rate. Those are actual numbers for a never cruised Royal newbie booking on the website. I'm not using the lowest GS rate ($4,218) to come up with that $63k spend. That would only be $50k. I'm using my real spend across L1 and GS rates averaged over 3 years of cruises. I stand by my statement, someone booking sky class once per year using website rates pales in comparison to the spend of a Pinnacle member.

At today's rates maybe. Not at rates starting 12 years ago. But even if they they did approach 100k, that still pales compared to 300k or 400k. They would have contributed 25% to 33% of the subjects of their ill will. Meanwhile a guest on their very first GS cruise would have paid a tiny fraction of that.

Free Izumi sushi in the lifeboat! Oops, I mean raw fish. Close enough. But you have to catch it yourself.

A TA has confirmed what your wife has stated.

Originally there were no Suite Lounges. There were Concierge Clubs and those clubs have long blended suite guests with loyalty guests. Royal will continue to adapt and adjust policy. That is inevitable as ships, suites and tier level numbers change. At the moment Royal still appreciates the many long time cruisers some of which have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, far greater spend than someone who books a dozen GS over 12 years. Neither extreme represents all cruisers completely and only Royal knows how best to respect both groups. At the moment it is what Royal wants it to be. Their ship, their rules.

Confirmed with a TA.

Has it started yet? DX is up $5 from yesterday.

According to marinetraffic.com Anthem did spend over 4 hours there, waiting, trying, waiting, whatever. Times in UTC: Around 8:16 UTC it does the 360 turn at the falls the around 8:34 UTC it is nearing Geiranger. At 12:49 UTC it begins the voyage back down the fjord. So it's not like they were trying to ditch the port.

Is that related to Brisbane? If Brisbane wasn't a home port would another ship be in Sydney?

While your question wasn't about KSF, the answer below should explain the approach and covers the inevitable KSF question. Q. How is the 10% deposit calculated with Kids Sail Free? A. The 10% deposit is calculated off the full booking’s cruise fare split amongst the number of guest in the booking. If the deposit, on a per person basis, is lower than the per person standard deposit, standard deposit will be collected per person. For any fifth or more guest that are eligible for Kids Sail Free will be charged the standard deposit amount.

That's exactly what my older brother used to say when he realized some of the pieces might be missing.

Or if the drink package works in them. There's a bar, right?

I feel like we are trying to build a puzzle but someone (Royal) like a playful younger sibling has hidden some the puzzle pieces. Until they dump the missing puzzle pieces onto the table...

Greatest wife ever!

I'm sure somewhere in between the two versions lies the truth.

Stick a visor on front of the aquadome and you've got your basic baseball cap. I can almost see a Thomas the Tank Engine like TV cartoon series in the making. It could be a sequel to Thomas & Friends. Instead of driving around on the Island of Sodor, Icon & Friends can sail around the Island of Sodor.

It's almost like two different people had two different experiences. 😱

Post it on FB. People believe everything on FB.

Last week they forced the RR for a DX exemption I was working on. I was curious if others are getting around that somehow.

Stealing this.

$129 is the fee to watch Utopia sail past from Jetty Park. EDIT - Plus 18% gratuity.

I don't recall that ever being offered to D/D+.

Did the other adult have to buy the refreshment package? That's normally a waiver requirement. The GS drinks can be limiting. Are you sure big drinker wouldn't want more? The big drinker in a GS without a DX would have to visit deck 17 for every drink 11am to 11pm and that only includes cheap beer and wine. The mixed cocktail hours are 5pm to 8pm but for a big drink it might not be appealing to wait until 5pm for a mixed drink, especially having to go to deck 17 for every drink. That's no fun. If you put the under 21 in the OV with the big drinker then big drinker can buy the DX drink package and the under 21 doesn't have to buy anything. Normally when requesting a waiver for just one person buying the DX they require other people in the same cabin who are over 21 to buy the refreshment package. While not as much, it's still several hundred for a 7 night cruise each. Leverage the under 21 in the OV to get around that by putting them in the OV together.

Waiting...

True. MSC has been screwing me around lately so I'm canceling my interior YC. I was very tempted to upgrade myself to their top suite and cancel it on day 91. Petty revenge.