PhillyFan33579

Just saw it on Allure two days ago.

Not sure how close you are to retirement, but it changes your outlook on things from my experience. Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, I am never in a rush to get on a ship early and that is basically my approach to life since I retired at the end of 2022.i had always planned to work into my 60s, but retiring when I was 57 was the smartest decision I ever made.

From my experience on over 30 cruises now, bartenders will automatically apply a drink voucher to anything you order unless you specifically tell them not to use a voucher. If you don’t want them to use a voucher (if ordering a soda, water, or even a beer, etc.) make sure to tell your bartender not to use a voucher when you tell them what you want.

A lot depends on what ship you are sailing on. I booked a NYE’s cruise on Icon this year the first day bookings were available. Currently cabins are going for over 3 times more than I paid. With a little shopping around I could book 4 Oasis class cruises for the same price. I have already cruised on Icon and enjoyed the cruise, but I don’t get all the hype around her (the water slides were awesome though).In my book Icon has some critical misses including no Solarium and no Boardwalk. I understand RCI is marketing Icon towards younger families, which doesn’t apply to me. Personally I still prefer Oasis class ships.

You make a good point about making every minute count if you only cruise once or twice a year. I cruise at least once a month so I am never in a rush to get on the ship early. But I completely understand how you feel about boarding as early as possible.

I think most of your questions have been answered. I cruise on RCI and Celebrity regularly and like you we enjoy the Sunset Bar at night. There is nothing remotely close to that on Freedom.

I don’t really understand your comment. Freedom class ships are just bigger Voyager class ships (Adventure). The only real differences between Freedom and Adventure is Freedom has a larger promenade area and Adventure doesn’t have Playmaker’s. I would argue Voyager class ships that have been amped (Mariner and Navigator) are just as nice, if not nicer, than any Freedom class ship.

I have always made reservations in planner on the web without any issues. Another poster said you could make reservations prior to the cruise on the app, which has never worked for me.

I have only been on Icon once, so I don’t know the ship too well. But one comment we made numerous times over 7 days was there was limited seating in the sun but plenty of shaded seating around the ship.

I have stayed in numerous CP and BW balconies. The big downside to these cabins is people can easily see into your cabins from other cabins. We rarely close the curtains when staying in an OV balcony, but it is just the opposite in a CP or BW balcony.

Have fun on your cruise! I am on Allure right now and as always having a great cruise. The only downside was it rained today so I stayed on the ship instead of enjoying Coco Cay. I felt bad for some people I talked to today who had never been to Coco Cay before. I have been there over 30 times, so not a big deal to me staying on the ship today.

If there are no longer cabins available for sale, the ship is likely sold out. If this is the case the chances of upgrading thru Royal Up are very slim, although passengers occasionally cancel cruises last minute for many reasons.

We are in a CP Balcony on Allure right now and there is plenty of storage in the cabin. In the last two months we stayed in a CP Balcony on Symphony and Icon. Both cabins didn’t have close to the amount of storage we have on Allure right now. In general it appears cabins on newer ships are more modern looking at the expense of storage areas. Older ships like Freedom and Voyager class ships have plenty of storage areas in the cabin.

I should have clarified I was talking about making reservations prior to the cruise. I have only been able to make reservations using the app when I was on the ship. If there is a way to reserve shows on the app 30-40 days prior to a cruise I don’t know how to do that. I have always had to use RCI’s website to make reservations in advance.

Not trying to sound negative, but no one is forcing you to cruise on RCI.

You need to schedule shows on the website, not the app.

The problem with prices is it is heavily dependent on each person’s financial situation. Personally I think prices for most RCI cruises are still very affordable, considering how bad inflation has been the last few years. But I can understand someone like you who is paying double for a similar cruise a year later on an older ship is going to have a different view. The main point I was conveying is cruise fares on older ships are significantly less than fares on newer ships. In my opinion fares on Icon are crazy. I booked two cruises on Icon when bookings were first available, but there is no way I would pay what people are paying now to cruise on Icon. I enjoyed Icon but it didn’t blow me away, not to mention I think there are a lot of things on Oasis class ships that are way better than Icon.

Really good post that I completely agree with 100 percent. The prices on the newest ships, especially Icon, are pretty steep right now, but it has always been that way (although I have never seen prices as high as I have seen for Icon). But you can still have a great cruise on any RCI ship. I am on what I consider a very cheap cruise fare on Allure right now and having a great time. There are things on Allure that I like significantly more than Icon.

It gets really warm in there during the Summer.

It doesn’t sound like this will be a problem for you, but when you link reservations thru the app everyone can see everything about each others cruise information. There have been comments online before from individuals not happy that friends they linked to could now see everything about their cruise, including financial related information.

As already stated, you cannot go to your cabin until an announcement is made that cabins are available. From my experience the average time is around 1:30 PM. I just boarded Allure yesterday and cabins were available at 1:05 PM. That is one of the things I like about Celebrity. You can go directly to your cabin to drop off carry ons and pick up your card. Just one of many things that is making Celebrity more and more appealing to me (not to mention I am getting older 🙂). As for Icon, great ship overall, although there are still things I like better about Oasis class ships (like having a Solarium). We were on the February 3-10 cruise. I have never seen so many kids on a ship before, but I understand RCI is marketing Icon towards families with younger kids. Definitely a big change from the 9 day cruise we did on Celebrity Constellation a few weeks prior to cruising on Icon. There were literally 12 kids on that cruise.

I have never received a military discount on any RCI cruise. I assume they exist since it is an option on the website and people have mentioned getting one like in this thread, but I guess I always pick the wrong cruise ship/dates. Just an FYI, I have gotten several military discounts on Celebrity cruises.

I think you got the answer to your question. My question is do you like your kids? 🙂 Seems strange to me to book a cruise that doesn’t allow you to spend too much time together. Of course you could not take advantage of the suite related perks, but that would sort of defeat the purpose of booking a suite in my opinion.

I have only done B2Bs from US ports, most recently last year on Wonder at Port Canaveral. Every time all the B2Bers met somewhere in the morning, usually at the MDR, where you are given a new Seapass card. Shortly before boarding begins for the new cruise, everyone walked off the ship, waited in the terminal for as little as a minute to up to 10 minutes, than you are the first ones to board the ship. One loophole that still exists at Terminal 1 at Port Canaveral is you pay for parking when you enter the parking garage (just did this yesterday for Allure). So if you are on a B2B (or longer) you only pay for the first leg of your cruise. I have never had to pay for parking for the entire cruise when doing a B2B out of Port Canaveral.

I don’t hate any of the MDR menus, but the Italian menu is by far my least favorite. We usually eat in a speciality restaurant that night, with or without using the BOGO perk.