LB_NJ

However prepaying gratuities gives Royal’s crack IT group another opportunity to screw up with your money. FYI, start a spreadsheet to keep track of the refunds. They don’t always come back in straightforward amounts.

Yes cancel cruise planner before a cruise. If it doesn’t put you into another penalty phase give it a couple of days between when you cancel cruise planner items and when you cancel the cruise.

Repositioning cruises (almost all TAs except the Cunard QM2 are repositioning cruises) tend to sail when the weather is iffy. We had pretty bad weather when we sailed. Cold and wet with rough seas. We were on Enchantment which is a smaller ship. It was aTA NJ to Italy with stops in Spain and France. We also went to Monaco on an excursion. We did Chops lunches for 2 of the days for a change of pace. Other than that we did the MDR for dinner all the days. I was OK with the food. In the end you have to decide if you are OK with eating in the MDR for that many nights. There are a lot of sea days so I learned to love Sodoku. If you get bored easily don’t do a TA. Pre-buy Euros if you are doing Spain, pounds if England. It is NOT the Caribbean where you can get away with using dollar bills. We spent an extra week in Italy at the end of our cruise and were happy we did. We booked that all on our own. If you have airline points use that for airfare. ONE WAY AIRFARE BACK TO THE US IS COST PROHIBITIVE. Fyi, my wife loved the cruise and wants to do another. I was happy I tried it once but not sure I would do it again.

Royal is still showing a cruise out of Baltimore at the end of May. I think they are being a little optimistic. They really should warn people that they might be switched to another departure port.

Are they planning on staying in Norfolk through the rest of 2024? If they can't get back by the end of drydock then they can't get back without canceling a cruise or cutting another cruise a day short.

I read somewhere that the official cruise parking lot for Norfolk holds 1200 cars. Would this be an issue if Vision were also to dock there?

I don't remember the dollar limit on Premium however if you purchase over the limit you will be charged the difference plus 20% on the difference plus any applicable tax on the difference.

I have. There are always last minute cancellations however, low bids will probably not succeed.

Royal is NOTORIOUSLY BAD at keeping passengers informed!

Some minor items that I have experienced. May not be true on all ships. Anything can change at any time. e.g., Celebrity used to let PAX take on 2 wine bottles per person vs. Royal's 1 but that changed. Almost forgot, it doesn't really bother me but irritates my wife, Celebrity provides hair conditioner in the shower, Royal does not. At least that is what I remember. Also, I think Celebrity does twice a day room service (ie, turndown in the evening), Royal went to once a day. Not sure if it was mentioned, I seem to remember that Royal allows smoking in the Casino and Celebrity does not. I think Royal still has formal nights, Celebrity has Evening Chic. Not sure that there is a real difference other than the names. Celebrity has Aqua Class and Royal does not. Celebrity doesn't make you sign out pool towels, Royal does. Royal sells a coffee punch card so you can prebuy specialty coffees at a discount (lots of discussion on the boards as to whether it is a true discount however for me it is). Celebrity doesn't really limit the amount of non-alcoholic beverages you bring on, Royal does. On the ships I have been on Celebrity usually has an outdoor grill near the pool that is free. Royal does not, Royal typically has a Johny Rockets that is extra charge. Probably much more stuff that I don't remember.

I thought that by a certain time there was a fee to cancel.

If you really don't want dinner in the MDR you can buy a pass for the specialty restaurants at less than the cost of a suite.

What is the current route around Baltimore that DOES NOT have a tunnel? You really don't want hazardous/explosive material in a tunnel.

I never buy cancel for any reason because it is significantly more expensive so I forget about that version. I was thinking of the standard variety travel insurance.

If they are sure they will be able to sail out of Baltimore fine, but if they can't then this is false advertising.

FYI, Royal is still selling June departures out of Baltimore.

I do not think most travel insurance would cover this. Travel insurance tends to be "named peril" and changing departure ports usually isn't listed as covered in the policies I've seen.

I am OK with that as long as they let me cancel and give me a full refund.

That is not true. I live much closer to Bayonne than Baltimore however, I just booked a cruise out of Baltimore because I wanted a smaller ship and the Vision had a great 12 day itinerary. For me Baltimore is also leave my house in the morning and arrive in time for a late lunch on the ship. Norfolk does not work for me.

I have a cruise booked on Vision ONLY because it left out of Baltimore. If they move it to Bayonne I'm OK. If they move it to Norfolk I hope they give me an option to cancel and get my money back.

I flew Southwest once and thought they were OK.

I don’t think they would?

Will Royal pay the extra cost of getting to Norfolk and the possible cost of an overnight hotel stay? Or will they let everyone cancel without penalty?

There is a tiny chance that they will overbook and you will not sail. Other than that if the discount is good enough go ahead and book guaranteed if you are willing to live with the worst possible cabin in that category.

FYI, it is of course VERY subjective however I have sailed both cruise lines in the last couple of years and my experience is that Royal buffet is worse than Celebrity and the Royal MDR is either the same or worse than Celebrity depending on the ship and the particular cruise. I think both cruise lines are still trying to figure out how to minimize spending on food while still filling the ships with passengers. Service levels from the crew seems to be similar. Royal is MUCH more likely to have children if that matters to you. Personally, at this point I would spend more for a Celebrity cruise and would only sail Royal if the itinerary was particularly interesting or I could drive to a Royal cruise and would have to fly if I did Celebrity.