DrProfessor

1. Gratuities are $16/day per person if in a Junior suite or below. Suites are $18.50/day per person. They can be prepaid or not, but you have to specifically choose that when booking. It can be prepaid later if you call or have a TA that can handle it. 2. The cost of the refreshment package depends on the sailing which is why you don't see it on the site. You have to have a cruise booked and then go into the cruise planner to see the cost. However, these days, the going price is generally between $25 - $32/day per person for the refreshment package (one of my future sailings has it for $33.99/day). Every sailing has different sales at different times so there is no one price. 3. I think there was before the pandemic, but I haven't seen this since.

This concept is tough, even though I know there is certainly truth in there. We never charge anything on cards that we cannot pay off in the same month and neither do our adult kids - because we constantly preached to them about the crazy high rates of credit cards and believe it or not, they heed that advice religiously. They are a great tool to use and help build credit, but we never run a balance on them past the month. Are people really charging vacations without having the money to pay for them? Nevermind... I know the answer to that. Anyway, back to fun talk about Utopia. Unfortunately, we stay away from the newest ships because of the premium price. We haven't been on Wonder yet because the price is still so high (to us) all the way out to 2025. We'll go eventually, but we have already been on Oasis, Allure and Harmony so I don't think we are missing too much. We'll see about Icon when the 2026 or 2027 seasons roll around. In fact, I'm hoping that the Icon is such a huge success, that the newer (which will then be older) ship prices start to come down a little.

That's right. Whatever you bid is based on double occupancy, so if you bid $50 for the upgrade, it will cost $100 if you win.

We had one of those double interior rooms and loved it because there was virtually no traffic going up and down the hall. We were on Independence and to get to the interior hallway, you had to open a door which cut out even more sound. Slept great on that cruise. We usually don't do interiors, but that separated area from the main hallways is actually quite nice.

We've booked an October 2024 out of PC to Aruba and Curacao (8 night). Found a great deal on a suite guarantee that was only $100 total more than a standard balcony for 2 of us - I couldn't resist that. Now, it looks like its at least $500 more and climbing. Excited because we have never gone there. Bermuda the first time this October (2023) and then (at least the A and C part) in 2024.

We are on the October Mariner cruise. As of right now, the schedule from Royal says we will arrive 8am on the 16th and leave at 3pm on the 17th. I think the linked Bermuda cruise ship schedule is weird or I am reading it wrong (hopefully) because it seems to indicate an arrival on Monday the 16th at 5:15pm (1715) and departure at 3pm on the 17th. That would be a real bummer since we are looking at booking an excursion each day. I guess it really doesn't matter other than we were hoping for the extra time since we have never been to Bermuda before. Like Orville99, we will still enjoy. Now we just have to hope there isn't a hurricane that makes us avoid Bermuda all together...

We got one last weekend (May 5th, 2023) for booking Next Cruise on the first day. If anyone is really wondering, it was a bottle of Blanc De Blancs Duc De Valmer Brut. We were on Independence, so maybe they are phasing it out or it is different from ship to ship?

Last October, we booked Wonder for this coming October (2023). When we got back, we decided to search a little more and ended up switch from Wonder to Mariner for this coming October. We love the Oasis class ships, but Wonder is still very much a premium (well, they all seem to be now). We went from a 7 day, neighborhood balcony to an 8 day ocean balcony and it cost $1000 less than the Wonder cruise. As a bonus, it is going to Bermuda which we have never been to. We have been on Mariner several times and always enjoy it.

I think the OP is saying he spend $3800 total on TWO 8-night cruises for standard balconies, so abuot $1900 for each cruise.

Right? I made it before our first ever cruise, but now I can't change it. I assume you have to get a moderator involved or some special request - which is too much trouble...

We have our first non-Royal Caribbean sailing booked with MSC for Feb 2024 on Seashore. We love cruising with RC and are finally at their diamond level. However, with the prices of cruises over the next two years, we decided to save a little and try something different. MSC appears to be up and coming in the US which is good (more true competition). For an interior YC room, it is still cheaper than an older balcony RC booking with the same number of days. So, we are giving up the balcony to try something different and everything I have read about the YC made me want to try it that way. Might as well give ourselves the best shot at a good experience.

I thought this was another tipping thread based on the title so I just came in to watch some of the same old arguments. Glad it has not turned into that. All kidding aside, thank for the review. We were scheduled to go on Wonder this October, but decided to move to Mariner because it was going to Bermuda (never been there). We get 8 days (in an OV balcony) instead of 7 on Wonder (in a neighborhood balcony) and it saved about $1000 because Wonder is still a higher premium ship. We have already been on Oasis, Allure and Harmony, so we figured why pay the extra. It sounds like Wonder is just enough different to be worth a trip eventually.

I like the flavor of curries, but since I am deathly allergic to cashews and pistachios, I avoid them because many have cashews as an ingredient. I like spicy food, but I would be one of those ones who never goes there. I know this is a question about an Indian food restaurant, but there are tons of other types of restaurants that could be just as popular (or not). When I lived in Fresno, CA, we would sometimes run downtown for lunch to an authentic Mediterranean (Greek?) restaurant. The food was so good. It was always 100% packed out. In fact, they were only open for lunch on business days (M-F from 11am-2pm).

We did the Beach Club on our last cruise because I booked it during the black Friday sales for about $90pp. For us, it was worth that price, but not more - and certainly not worth over $200pp. But - worth is subjective. People are paying those prices, so... It is nice, but the biggest benefit is the lower crowd, and the lunch is pretty good.

We are looking forward to finally making Diamond after our next 3-point/night cruise in a couple of months. The best benefit we were hoping for are the drink vouchers, and at least that is staying the same. I'll be happy with that benefit if nothing else - which probably means it's next on the cut list. We will keep sailing with Royal because we have liked our vacations, but it is getting pretty expensive. For that reason alone, we have our first non-Royal cruise booked in Feb 2024 with MSC (we are trying and internal YC cabin). They seem to be gaining in popularity and are consistently cheaper for booking than Royal for the same or more benefits. Still, we will mostly stick with Royal - but not for their loyalty program because aside from the drink vouchers, it really doesn't amount to much. We just won't be exclusive if we like our experience on MSC. We already have Oct 2023 and Oct 2024 booked with Royal.

It took only 5 or so responses before it went back to the usual...

Another vote for 150 CP as the favorite. Chops is also one of our favorites, but the 150 food is so good.

When in a grand suite or above, the concierge lounge does have an open bar from 5pm - 8pm each night. At least on our cruise, you do not need to use vouchers or pay for any of those drinks. On our last cruise, we always had dinner scheduled at 5:30 - we would go to the concierge lounge at 5pm and each of us would get a glass of wine and bring it to dinner. It was really nice. As far as I know, this is the only time you can get drinks from the suite lounge (3 hours/day).

It's 2.4 laps for a mile

This is what we usually get (the refreshment package), since we rarely drink alcohol. We might get a glass of wine with dinner, but coffee, water, soda and mocktails make up the rest of our drinking on a cruise. However, at the current pricing for even the refreshment package, we will be switching to the soda package and then just paying for the rest. After our next 3-day in May, we'll be diamond anyway and get the vouchers after that. The refreshment package used to be on sale for $18/day/pp. Now, it just doesn't make sense for us. I am hoping that RC doesn't eventually do away with the voucher system because it is perfect for us - which means they probably will mess with it at some point.

I got the message too. It freaked me out a bit because we board next Tuesday and this seems rather close. Glad to know many others had the same thing.

Interesting that you should ask that. I am on Jewel this coming week and got contacted by the concierge who told me to set up everything ahead of time. I responded and asked her about the UDP and setting up my reservations. The response I got back was confusing... "Thank you for your reply, I'll send the information to our Restaurants team and they will give priority to your reservations on the first day of the cruise for your suite and your mother's too." So I asked a follow-up question based on the language she used. Does this mean that I still have to go to a restaurant as soon as I board to make these reservations myself? I haven't heard back yet. I'm fine if it does, but this response did not clarify it either way. If I still have the stress of immediately going to a restaurant to reserve our meals for the cruise, I'll deal with it, but I thought this was something the concierge would take care of. It is a little disappointing because there really won't be much else we would use the concierge for. We are low maintenance vacationers. Also, we were notified that breakfast will be in Chops, but I'm not sure we will ever use it because my Mom is with us in a standard balcony room. If anyone knows, is the Chops breakfast different or is it just quieter (same breakfast as everywhere else) because it is exclusive to suites?

That's what I'm talking about. Amazing starter bread... I want the recipe for this

That's right. I should have said that they stopped providing the printed versions in your cabin. We asked our cabin steward for it last time and she tried to tell us it was on the app. We insisted and it didn't start showing up in our cabin until 2 days later. I really hate scrolling through things on the app and want to see it all at once, but not if I have to jump through hoops to get them to give me a paper copy. My thought is at least have a stack near guest services daily and then I would go and pick it up like a newspaper (used to be) - but they don't even have that. Oh, there is also the daily planner channel on your stateroom TV - nearly the same problem as the app.

As others have said, yes you can get the tenderloin for one. That is my go to in 150 CP. Also, jk04 mentioned the short rib appetizer - this is pretty amazing. Many have also mentioned the fried cheesecake. This is three small balls of battered and fried cheesecake with a dollop of sweet whipped cream - it is sublime if you like melt-in-your-mouth cheesecake. One more thing for CP 150 is the starter bread. It is the best far and above any other breads served before meals. I could make a meal out of that alone. It is hard to describe why it is so good, but it is airy, soft, buttery and salty (maybe a little garlic, but not so much that it is garlic bread?).