Engineroom Snipe

My last post was a bit tongue-in-check. Hard to read if the posters think their replacement day is as good or better than what they expected when booking their cruise. I am one who enjoys Coco Cay and the Grand Turk Islands so I would enjoy the change if needed due to weather or a possible civil unrest at an island. Nassau is one place I have visited many times but I can enjoy a few hours there at my favorite spots. Bimini is good for one go around but after that, I might stay on the ship on a port day to recharge and relax without doing excursions. If your itinerary was changed, how was it replaced? Many posters have shown their changes but have not stated if they liked the changes or not. Does this make you happy, sad, or it does not matter? I know we all love cruising because why else would you be posting and responding to this change of itinerary? This post has elicited many reactions because we all have expectations when we book our cruises. I would be one of those that just enjoys the ship on a sea day and call it a day if I cannot make it to port (pun intended). Thoughts........

It's like playing the lottery. Winner, winner, chicken dinner. But someone has to lose and it is not the house.

Bimini, like most destinations can be great the first time just because it is a new place to visit. We would not do it twice. I would easily do a cruise that included it but I would not get off the ship. It is nice to have a "Sea Day" at port with less people on board. Understand your feelings......

This what we ended up doing. We might reserve say, 8:15pm for every night but still had to wait in the "reservation queue" which was a line for people who had reservations. This was not awful at all but we ended up getting in line at about 7:50pm for our 8:15pm reservation on most nights. We looked at each other during the third night and said, we will just go for the 7:45pm second seating for MDR next cruise and save those minutes in line for the Schooner bar which is just one flight of stairs away in most cases. Best decision we ever made. We start leaving the Schooner Bar at 7:40pm and by the time we get there, the doors are open and people are moving directly to their tables. Much better for us. If we know we will miss the meal for whatever reason, we call during the day or stop off at their reservation station and inform them. They appreciate that courtesy and we have never had a problem.

May I ask if it was a set time for every night or did you vary the time from one night to the next?

Exactly. 1. The suite sales would need to drop off significantly. 2. The drop off of the suite sales would have to be tied to not getting special perks on one of their private resort areas. That would take months of feedback if not years. As of now, the first item of suite sales dropping off significantly is not happening.

From the CEO, in the last quarterly statement, the passenger on-board add-on revenue (to include excursions) was "not meeting expectations." That revenue suffered a 2% drop from 2022 to 2023 despite record occupancy during the last quarter of 2023. I agree without any dispute that suite guests pay much higher amounts of money than me when I do an interior through my travel advisor. They pay at least 6 to 12 times what I do. The CEO still counts that as "base cabin fare." In general, every activity any passenger does as they walk off the gangplank on a port day is an opportunity to make more revenue. If it is not expressly included in "Star Class", "Sky Class", or any other type of suite perks, it is fare game for some extra revenue as far as Corporate is concerned.

Nordic Prince, 1989: we got off the ship at Haiti and at the port were military with 50 caliber machine guns on jeeps. My "Spider Sense" started to tingle immediately. Not your normal port "Greet and Meet" if you know what I mean. If it does not feel right, time to stage exit right. 😬

If you get that great price point you like, not having the perfectly located cabin is very easy to handle. As always, be proactive and bring ear plugs and a small white noise machine in case you do not get the quietest of cabins. If you do enough activities and get plenty of fresh air, you will sleep like a zombie anyway. With the money saved, you can have other experiences on the ship or put it towards another cruise. We rarely spend that much time in our cabin except to recharge, shower, and change.

I had a GTY interior on the Enchantment in April 2023. Ended up being one of the best interiors I could ask for on deck 3. It was almost the exact middle front and aft and middle side-to-side. It was in a short hallway so very little foot traffic past our cabin, extremely quiet with little to no motion felt the whole trip. The price was much lower than getting to select my cabin at the time and the choices of cabins were limited. I do not mind gambling a bit with interior cabins but I always select my balconies. Talk about getting a great night's sleep. Enjoy your cruise.

@leaveitallbehind They just changed the lunch hours to only sea days recently. I was going to book one on a port day hoping to have a quiet lunch to find out hours have changed. I do not do UDP so I cannot say if it has been like that for a while. Some people like to maximize their UDP with lunches and dinners. Did Royal cut back lunches only to sea days to save money? I do not know.

In the MDR, the braised lamb can be absolutely great, almost the best I have had in general or it can the the "iffy" which is not good. Depends on the ship and chef of the day.

Normally on Mariner's day of embarkation: Chops Grille opens at 5:30 pm. Chops is open at 12pm for lunch on sea days. Izumi Hibachi opens at 5:30pm. Izumi Sushi opens at 5:30pm. Jamie's Italian opens at 12pm - 1:30pm. Johnny Rockets opens at 11:30am. Hope this helps.

You are correct, I should have clarified that it is not a "must" stop but a convenient way of meeting legal requirements when non US flagged ships start and stop in a US port.

You are correct. My intent that it is an easy port that can hold up to seven ships at a time. As opposed to Coco Cay that can only handle two. Bimini might handle two ships. Nassau can handle a huge amount of port excursions and activities which is key driver of cruise company income.

Yes, the horse is always ready if the discussion is productive. Trumpet playing before the start of a race. "And they're off!" 🐎

I am correcting this post that the port charges are added at the end of the original purchase but they are not advertised in big print when you shop for cruise prices. Another correction would be that gratuities are mentioned at the end of the booking process but again are not calculated into the advertisements for "2 People to a cabin per person cost on the least expensive prices."

The cruise ships that are not American registered must stop at least once during a cruise that originates and returns from an American port. Royal like most cruise lines, saves money when their ships are docked because they are not using their propulsion systems, passengers who bought "Unlimited Dining" and "Unlimited Drinking Packages" are not using those packages when they go ashore. The cruise lines make money from shore excursions from every port they stop in. The cruise lines can transparently keep their "Per Person Cabin Price" the same because the cost of the additional port stops are hidden in "Taxes and Port Fees" which are quietly added at the end of the booking. Just like the four dollar increase in gratuities is not reflected in the "Per Person Cabin Cost" until you check out the last day, the port fees become invisible until you get to the final total. Many of Royal's ships are registered in the Bahamas. This gives them more influence over the ports that they visit in the Bahamas as they seek better financial terms or priority in assigning port docks. I could go on and on but you get the theme I am presenting.

Add on that I forgot that Royal's insurance program provided a "Future Cruise and Air fare Credit, in many cases, you do not get cash back. That is why I use my Travel Agent insurance carrier. There is a whole topic dedicated to insurance and it explains all of the ins and outs of flying, hotel, and cruise fare insurance as they often happen during one cruise.

Only if you book the cruise and air travel through Royal's program will you get refunded for a canceled cruise automatically. I go through a travel agent and get my cruise with insurance. If I am flying, I add additional insurance for the flight. I will have to file for the insurance.

First, thank you for coming back and posting the outcome of your situation. I meticulously followed and replied in your first thread. Due to some of the context of that thread, certain posts were removed but I read them all before they were removed. Good, bad, or indifferent, my original advice was given in good faith. Royal has completely ticked you off with their treatment of the situation. You always have the right to pursue litigation and that is your prerogative. Not many minds will be converted here. Almost all of the posters "for or against" your actions will continue to cruise Royal despite Royal's treating you the way they did. I cannot add anything more to the conversation. I wish the best for you. Regards.

@OCSC Mike I have been watching Coco Cay prices for my April cruise out of Baltimore and they are extremely low compared to previous cruises last year. I am estimating the two ships docked that day have about a 7,000 max capacity. Time of year? Low capacity compared to say an Oasis and Icon which would almost be twice the passenger capacity? Colder water temperatures? I am trying the Hideaway at $19 per person in April. Next November (non-Thanksgiving cruise) on a larger ship, they want $59 per person (discount applied). Dynamic pricing, what a concept! 🤔

And it begins.....

Nothing is for sure at this moment. Lots of flux concerning this port. The cruise contract says the "flux" is up to Royal to interpret. I was in Haiti in 1989 for a seven day cruise out of Miami. I was with another military officer and his wife on their honeymoon. Everywhere we went, they keep saying, "Rambo, do you want something?" Most probably it was our haircuts and body language which they are very attuned to. Very concerning as we tried to keep a low profile upon our decision to go back to the ship.We were worried about our spouses. We could take care of ourselves but did not want to put them in any type of jeopardy which was supposed to be a "perfect" vacation for us and a honeymoon for them. This is not a new situation.

One thread just slowed down this week titled, "Anyone Else Considering Leaving RCL over Prices?" 331 replies and 14.5K views. In so many words, it seems like for this year at least, the prices do not go down significantly in most cases. There is a bit of softening with Royal dangling some onboard credit during "sales" periods but no significant price decreases. @mets123 stated a good option. Book fully refundable fares and make a decision about four months out to cancel if you do not see the final price within your budget. Everyone has talked about the significant increases and it is affecting many cruisers.