Engineroom Snipe

Interesting discussion without hyperbole. So many data points to analyze and make calculations upon with no crystal ball to look into the future. Royal is still afloat in the sea and I will not complain about it. I am not blindly loyal to Royal but I enjoy cruising with them when I do. Thank you to all who buy their stock. I hope you get reasonable returns.

Only one other ship in port. I was on the Vision and I remembered looking on a port website ahead of time and figured our total capacity with the other ship was about 9000 passengers max. I believe it was the Allure of the Seas because of all of the slides. All of the Coco Cay prices were much lower, less than half, for almost anything so I guess demand was not high. This made sense because we were on Coco Cay the week AFTER Easter week when most students would be back in school. Cannot argue about the chairs and umbrellas blocking the view if you are not in the front rows. We spent time in the regular heated pool which had a nice view OVER the umbrellas.

On Hideaway Bay on April 9 this month. We were one of two ships there and we were off-boarded second. Looked over the side until we saw passengers moving off the ship and then hit the gangway at about around 8:30am. We were seated by 9:05am and at the the time, had the pick of the entire place. Did not fill up until around 10:30am. We stayed until 4pm for a 4:30pm all aboard time. The highlight was the heated pool since the day started windy and cool. By lunch it was very nice but not many people in the protected ocean area. The DJ seemed to study his crowd and had music that was lively but not too loud. You could have a conversation in the pool area. The large inflatable beach balls seem to really entertain the pool crowd but you could find a quiet place in the pool away from the action easily. Waiting lines for food and drinks were minimal all day. The food selection was somewhat bare minimum. The coconut shrimp was the exception, freshly fried and larger than I expected served with very fresh French Fries. Nothing seemed pre-cooked as they were almost too hot to eat right away. Five of them would fill a normal person who was not extremely hungry. The shrimp dip had pineapple in it which complimented the coconut shrimp flavor. I only paid $19 per person and except for the heated pool, I could do without it. For us it will be dependent on the time of year we go. If you are going during the warmer months, I would stick to the no charge areas and have a better food selection. Just my humble OPINION.

The latest financial report states that they have had 107% occupancy averages. I have watched cruises at near maximum life boat capacity over the first quarter. I cannot find information about how many three and four passengers per cabin on a specific cruise. A ship can be near total life boat capacity with many empty rooms. Example: Vision of the Seas 1018 staterooms 2,443 maximum passenger capacity 2,036 double capacity, 100% occumpancy Their are 407 more passenger spaces available to maximum capacity. If 1/4 of the staterooms have four people in a cabin: (Mom, Dad, and two young children) About 254 staterooms and 1016 passengers. If 1/4 of the staterooms have three people in a cabin: (Friends and Family trying to split costs). About 254 staterooms with 762 passengers. If the rest of the staterooms are double occupancy, Only about 332 cabins are needed to obtain maximum ship capacity. There are 178 empty staterooms because the ship cannot exceed maximum passenger capacity. Before any one attacks me for my suppositions because the "Vision of the Seas" does not attract families like say, an Oasis class, think again. It sails out of Baltimore on a 9 day cruise this August with a "Kids Sail Free" tag. Its price is significantly lower than Oasis class during the same time period from Bayonne. Families can drive to Baltimore from a very large geographic area and avoid flight costs, security hassles, and baggage costs. So a ship can easily sail at maximum capacity and have a significant amount of cabins empty.

On all of the deck plans available for the Vision of the Seas, it is listed as "Park Cafe."

I stand corrected, the Solarium Cafe on the port side aft, deck 9, of the Vision. "Girlfriend"? 🤔

He was trying to "delete" the experience. 😁

@alfaeric, This post is in reference, tongue-in-cheek (and maybe biting it!) to an earlier post where I would I bet my house on this being impossible Thanks, just when I thought this thread would disappear. On the advice of the shadiest lawyer I could find, who just happens to list on his resume that he worked in Casino Bankruptcies in Atlantic City, NJ, in the early 1990s with some famous clients: I have used my house as collateral against a loan. My house is only valued at $500,000 but I believe that they do not have any appreciation for the unique value my name brings to the property and will value it at about 10, maybe 20 times what they say it is worth. There could be about $100,000 equity left (of $10,000,000) but after the lawyers, taxmen, and real estate people get finished chewing on the carcass, I believe that the posters who have challenged me will get at least $17.00 each to buy you one drink with gratuities included on your next cruise. You may now dance on my grave. I am going to be so happy I was wrong and have to eat crow. I still have a great vacation home in the Cayman Islands. 🤣

Madagascar Penguins, "You did not see anything."

That is so ironic as I really enjoyed the huge salad offerings in the Windjammer before the shut-down. To each their own. "Have it your way..., have it your way." (Jingle from Burger King, 1974) which seems very appropriate for this thread. Everyone has their favorites and not so much favorites. 😉

Everyone has an opinion on food and I can agree that there were some meals on my 2023 cruises I could have done without. There has been improvement. My recent Vision of the Seas in April had a very good beef tenderloin on the first sea day. My wife is a baker/cook and she said the Tiramisu on the third night was VERY good. This was unusual for her to make such a compliment as she is not a huge fan of Royal desserts. On the last sea day at MDR Lunch, we both had a very good salmon, nice proportion, texture, cooked well and not dried out. One of the highlights of the week and it was at lunch! I have been one of many to complain when the meals were lacking but I have been noticing a definite improvement. Still seems a bit of hit or miss. I did have a disappointing NY Strip steak twice in the same cruise. The cocktail shrimp, I just stopped ordering it. They were very small, a bit dry, and served with a water-downed "cocktail" sauce which seemed like ketchup and some hot sauce. It was very runny and had no horseradish kick in it at all. Breakfast was more than adequate and we skipped many lunches just because we were not that hungry. I did have the best sandwich yet from Park Cafe in the Solarium on the first day. Jelo shaved the roast beef into fine strips and slathered the roll with the perfect amount of horseradish. No tug with an excellent chew and flavor. I made sure to mention it in my cruise feedback. For such a young crew member, he made an impression on me the whole week whenever I checked the Cafe for a mid afternoon snack instead of lunch. Escargot was fabulous every time we were able to order it. Definitely not our worst cruise food compared to other times. MDR service was great. We gave 10s for service but an 8 for food as some of the meat quality just was not there the week we went. Food is SO subjective.

@firefly333 Starting to see definite price weakness this September out of Bayonne. September 8, 7 day cruise is going for half the price of its all time high since it was listed after discounts. Was as high as $1,200 per person including tax and is now about $670 (interior, I was able to select the room and it was a virtual balcony on the 8th deck forward) today. Not as low as the first year post Covid but not able to sustain the 250% increases I have seen over the past 14 months. Long term cruisers are still booking immediately but they are not filling in the last 30% of cabins in the shoulder season. RCI did not have any shoulder seasons in 2023 and looks strong until the end of summer this year. The Fall is starting to look more traditional with reduced prices. I think this will definitely affect stock growth as opposed to the recent gains.

There is no 'joy' when the 'yoy' is negative. 😟

Yes, thanks to some great CC members like yourself. In the end, we make decisions to make the best of any situation we are given. On a vacations, I expect the best but prepare for the worst scenarios. Quite the opposite of being in the military on any given mission. Thank you.

Yes. I did. As much as possible. My CC review is an extension of trying to give him gratitude and celebrate his efforts. Some people could care less about the art of towel animals. I wanted to show appreciation for the effort. How many hotels have a critter in clean towel cotton fur waiting to welcome you into your room?