Funkytown83

On 9/4/2022 at 2:46 PM, island lady said:

I am on Voyager from end of January to mid Feb.  (B2B2B) out of PR.  

 

Last year was EX.  

 

Only thing I did not like about the ship are the balconies.  They are inset on the older ships, making them feel like large iron caves, and ours had a lot of rust and peeling paint....but I think that part was due to EX not being refurbished yet.  I am hoping the iron cave on Voyager will be in better shape.  

 

Love...love Chops with the floor to ceiling windows to the sea.  🙂   Also adore the circle VCL bar.  Good times.  

Voyager definitely has its up and downs if compared to the new ones. But especially the metall shell balconies were one of the upsides! Our JS on deck10 (last week) was in great condition and I never had that kind of balcony before. We loved it so much! It keeps the wind out and you are much more private since the sides to your neighbors are also completely  metal shut! Also it didn’t block the light since the JS on Voyager have full glass between the cabin and the balcony. But I get that it is not pleasant if rust is showing… One downside of Voyager was the Entertainment in the theater… Also the lack of dining options for breakfast. But we would pic her again. 

It depends on the denomination. $0.25 is usually 94 - 95%, but it goes up to 98,6% on $10 and $25 denomination. If you make use of the ClubRoyale benefits it always worked out pretty well for me. Not beeing in profit playing VP on Royal, but the booking benefits usually cover 70-100% of my losses… 

39 minutes ago, BND said:

"So many people"?  We were on EN for 6 nights back in July.  Out of the group of 23 we were with, two actually caught it, so somewhere around 9%.  About 10% is what I've seen on other roll calls just based on the number of people on the roll call and positives reported.  Even those that report about their travel companions, it appears to be around 10%.  Our state positivity rate is over 15%.  Cruisers are not getting it more often than anyone else.  And, numbers are dropping.  

I think that more than 10% of the cruise passengers on Voyager were positive after the cruise. But we won’t know for sure, since there are no numbers and not everyone gets tested afterwards. 

I left Voyager ots on last Sunday after a b2b Sacandinavia cruise. In the second week it felt like half the ship was coughing. So it’s no wonder that I tested positiv the evening we got back home on Sunday. It’s the second time I got it now and it is definitely more intense… 😑  I have mixed feelings now about going back on a cruise if so many people get sick afterwards… I can’t imagine cruising working out if they loose the testing protocols even more… 

2 hours ago, Concretemanstan said:

You always have to do what you think is right for you and your family.  You can't and shouldn't rely on anyone else to protect you.  COVID, the vaccine and testing has divided so many cruisers.  Just out of interest, what will be your criteria for booking another cruise?  As the CDC has dropped quite a bit of guidance recently I imagine obtaining data on positive cases, etc., is going to be very difficult now?

I am going to wait half a year and see how this plays out… If on some ships, especially on longer cruises, the cases are going to spike, we will propose hear it through media or here on CC… 

38 minutes ago, Concretemanstan said:

Without sounding like a pessimist, you HOPE you can board Voyager on Sunday.  You could be asymptomatic and test positive.  The question is would you be for or against testing if that happened?

Of course that is possible and would be a huge blow, if we couldn’t go because of a positive test. But I would still be pro tests, because I think that’s what made cruising possible again. I had covid last year and didn’t die, but a lot of people did. I know that also a lot of people die because of the flue, but covid on a tight and busy ship with no one beeing tested will spread faster than anything else… I also might be wrong and cruising is going to work in the winter without vaccination and testing requirement, but I seriously doubt that. But it will hold me back from booking a new cruise for a while.. We did three cruises after the restart so far… 

I can‘t imagine how they are going to protect the crew if in the coming months they are (probably) going to loose the vaccine and testing requirement for the passengers?! As most ships are sailing at or over 100%, covid will spread like a wildfire onboard. I know that the precruise testing isn’t perfect, but I think it was and is key for cruising at the moment. Anyway, I am happy to board Voyager on Sunday for a b2b where everybody still must be tested and vaccinated 😊 

Once again 🥳! Today we got our RoyalUp win confirmation. Voyager ots 7 night on August 28, we went from OV Balcony to Junior Suite for $180 pp! 🎉 The bid was about 15% above the minimum. Good times!  

Success! 🥳 We got our Royalup win email yesterday. Sailing is 7N Voyager ots on August 21 out of Copenhagen. We booked on OV cabin and bid on balcony and all suite categories except the Royal Suite. We were kinda counting on a royalup win 😅  So we are moving two categories up to a JuniorSuite. We bid $220 pp, which was about 15% above minimum. We are very happy with the result, because that represents savings of about $1.500. We are doing b2b, so we are excited for next week if we get the Royalup info next Friday again 🤞. For context, since restart this is our fouth cruise and the third RoyalUp win. But i guess for the Caribbean cruise chances are now very slim … 

Pink Gin and Tonic or a MelonBall 🍸

After the first cruise you get to wave goodbye to all the miserable passengers leaving and can think for yourself „This was only halftime, awesome“! 😅😎 (I am kidding, but there actually is some truth to it, it is a good feeling!) 

How many nights the sailing is, would also be interesting 

If I want to book a cruise that is not listed on any of my current offers I call and ask for the best price for a specific cabin category on the desired sailing. They usually give me a “casinoten” which gives 10% discount after the current regular onlinesale. If they don’t come up with it right away, I ask to specifically apply the “casinoten” discount. It always worked! I’m a ClubRoyale member for roughly ten years now. Currently at the prime level. The only exception is, that the promo does not work for new ships in their first season. Good luck! 

I was probably just sitting on the other side of deck 3 MDR at the window, we got a little wet at dinner 💦🌊😅. I am wondering if there is water coming in the OV cabins as well … 

I am on Oasis now and Cats is (again) canceled due to “technical” reasons. Entertainment sucks on Oasis, also no Aqua show! Only the two bands in the MusicHall are pretty good. Also the ship isn’t in a good condition overall. Lot’s of cleanliness issues everywhere! We have just been on Allure last week and she was in much better condition!  Just saying… On a positive note, the service in MDR is excellent and the weather is beautiful. 

We just won a RoyalUp for the next Oasis sailing 5/1 from NJ on sunday. We booked pretty much last minute only on last Monday. I used a casino free cruise certificate for a balcony. During booking I asked how much the fee for an upgrade to a JS is. -> 3,000 USD, so no thanks! So we booked on OV balvony on deck 8 and only paid around 300 USD for taxes. Luckily only yesterday I was able to put in RoyalUp bids. The min. were pretty high I think. 300 pp for JS, 500 pp for GS, 800 pp for OS, 2,000 pp for CL… So we bid on JS, GS and OS, all around 20% above minimum bid. Luckily the JS came through. So in the end we paid 750,- USD total for the upgrade instead of 3.000! Yay!!! Also got a good location for the JS assigned, with a deep balcony! 🥳 

On 4/8/2022 at 4:54 AM, Rusty Shacklefjord said:

I didn’t know holding a baby sloth was an option; that sounds amazing!😍

That may sound amazing for you, but did you ever think about how „amazing“ it is for a baby sloth beeing handed from one person to another?!?!?!?! Come on people, it’s 2022, we have to grow up! 

27 minutes ago, neverlaysup said:

Are Casino Royal guests (Comped cruise) allowed to bid via Royal Up?

Yes, it should work. I did that last cruise in August last year. 

Hi everybody, today I got an email invitation  from Royal for the Wonder ots inaugural lauch!?! Apparently this is a two night cruise May 6th from Barcelona. Gratuities, taxes and drinks included. For me this sounds like a PR sailing? Maybes for travel advisors and such. But I’m a regular diamond plus cruiser and don’t work in the travel industy… Am I missing something or did I just won some kind of crown and anchor society lottery?! 😅 Did someone else got this? I’m from Germany btw, so Barcelona is not right around the corner, but we are still tempted 😁 “If it’s free, it’s for me” 😂 

Melon Ball! 🍸

20 minutes ago, GlenG said:

For what’s it’s worth, I think you made the right decision in cancelling the downgraded cruise, as hard as that choice may have been. What other cruise lines do you sail with?

We are still doing two cruises on Allure next year to use the FCCs, but then it´s going to be land based trips. We are looking at Thailand, hiking in Austria, driving through Italy, Australia. 

As far as other cruise lines, I always wanted to try Cunard / QM, but we are probably too young for that (around 40). But still looking at it 🙂 The most comparable to Royal is probably NCL. Maybe we give them a shot.  

13 hours ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

Indeed. Most of us are happy and too busy planning our cruises to get bent out of shape in here. I do feel for that upset minority, however. Most of them will continue cruising with Royal, though, so…that’ll teach ‘em?

Nope, we will at least take a long break from royal! We were affected on the April Allure TA beeing downgraded from crown loft suite to junior suite. I canceled that cruise and also the other two which were b2b. We will use our FCC on a different Allure sailings plus a casino free cruise and that’s it. I am also not going to gamble a single dollar on these cruises. I usually would now start planning cruises for  2023, but not anymore. Me and my partner are still pissed at royal for intentionally screwing up our well planned travel itineraries and not offering decent alternatives! 👎 That sour feeling will stick. 

2 hours ago, villager70 said:

Saw a cruiser win this on the Harmony on the Dancing Drums.  Im sure he was playing max.

Nope, this is not max bet. He was playing 176 times 2 cent. So total bet was  $ 3.52. I believe max bet is more like $ 10. The amount of this jackpot does not rely on the amount bet. That´s just what beeing super extreme lucky looks like. 

7 minutes ago, dianajo67 said:

 Can someone explain why the owners suite costs nearly twice as much as a grand suite

That is very unusual. A Owner suite is usual priced around 40 to 50 % higher then a grand suite. The Owners must be well booked to explain the price jump?! 

42 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Sounds like a good deal to me, more ports, 2 extra nights and you don't have to fly all the way to Europe. Win, all around.

Might consider giving up m y Owner's Suite to just sail from US and not having to fly to and from Rome.

Actually I am from Germany so we have to take another long flight home instead of the TA 😅 But still happy!