Engineroom Snipe

Would not all of these offers would be categorized under the "suite" category and be available to any one who currently has a "balcony" category which is only one tier below suite?

@Biker19 Your answer is similar to my experiences. Some may interpret the offering on an Oasis class ship as "multiple" tiers but they match your analysis. I have had a "QTY" interior cabin or an assigned interior cabin. I have been offered the following: 1. Spacious interior, still an interior. 2. Outside View. 3. Spacious Outside view, still an outside view. 4. Panoramic outside view, still an outside view. 5. Central Park view, still an outside view. 6. Promenade view, still an outside view. 7. Central Park and Boardwalk Balconies, regular balcony. 8. Outside Balcony, regular balcony. While there are many offerings, I only get to go up two tiers from my original. Outside view or balcony, no suites.

When he starts tapping the bar every fifteen minutes, I'm out! (remember the bar drinking scene from Raiders of the Lost Arc). 🤢😝

OUCH! 🤑😨

By the time you get to 65+, I just do not feel like sneaking any alcohol onboard. I did not even think about thinking about sneaking it when I was younger. I do agree that RCI carefully watches what each age consumes because they have all of the data through your purchases or lack there of. I could be wrong, but the amount of traveling alcohol is insignificant for RCI's calculations. It might change as RCI chases a younger demographic.

Yes, I wonder how many people are dropping their purchase of the unlimited drink package in an effort to afford the cruise and pay on a drink by drink basis.

Yes, I was not sure on that one. I was wondering if when "Kids sail free" that RCI would add a caveat that they would not get points. Thanks for clarifying.

Or they offer an "Exclusive Life Boat Experience Tour" for all Pins onboard. I think the Pins will get suspicious the minute they start lowering the boat without any crew members in the life boat. I can hear it now, "But I am a Suite Guest! Not a Pin!" 🤣

We will start getting into the Bond Rating Systems: AAA+ to DIRT one letter at at time. 😁

One could interpret the language that after 18, the children's account starts at zero as it does not specifically state that any cruise points are accumulated as children. They just enjoy the status of their parents up to the Diamond Plus level until they turn 18.

Until age 18. Item 45 under "Youth Memberships" in C&A" PDF Brochure. They only get credit for the actual days they cruised between 0 and 18 after the age of 18.

Great question! Why would RCI offer such a high discount? Possibilities: 1. Assuming that drinks costs about $14 (plus automatic gratuities), at 25% and 30%, the standard breakeven point is five drinks per day. Even at that level, one could charge those five drinks to the room and still have the same overall costs. At 35%, it appears the break even costs is four drinks a day. RCI maybe gets a few extra sales from cabins that might otherwise not buy a package. 2. Some people have medical issues or are taking prescriptions by the time they are 65+. A cabin might have one person who can drink alcohol and one that cannot. They might just pay again for the alcohol drinks for one and non-alcohol drinks for the other and still be cheaper than two drink packages at the current pricing. 3. Cabin prices in general have gone up. Some cruisers might be foregoing alcohol packages or buying less drinks on-board in order to free up money for the higher fares. RCI obviously must believe that this is a profitable offer so RCI must assume that 65+ cruisers drink less on the average than younger cruisers. I know there are exceptions but the bean counters are like the casinos: as long as the bottom line is more profitable, they will keep experimenting with these numbers. I believe this offer is a moot point for most C&A cruisers who are 65+ since they most probably have obtained Diamond or higher status which included happy hours in the past and vouchers presently. In those cases, a person would have to drink more than nine drinks (if a current Diamond) in order to break even. I know some easily can do this when soda, coffee, juices, etc, are combined with their drink numbers. Maybe they are trying to entice older C&A cruisers into full unlimited drink packages and testing the water (I should say 'alcohol' 😆) with the extra 5% discount added to the normal maximum 30% discount during special sales.

I know. But I was channeling my inner dog. Good to be home! Thank you for sharing ALL of your vacation with us. 😇

I have dismembered this room in the memory of meeting you again. It will take at least three days for you to be in my good graces. You may pet me now. 🤣

Please show us a happy reunion with your fabulous dog! 😁

Formally known as "Jumping Ship". 🤣

I know I have stopped booking more RCI cruises since last October, 2022. I am finishing my third of 2023 cruises with another one booked for November 2024. I normally would do at least one spring (2024) but I am on hold until after my Jewel cruise this November. I will have a good time but it will the added to my opinions of how much I cruise RCI in the future.

Such a shame, on our cruise in April of 2022, the braised lamb was one of the best I tasted, a 9.5/10, when all the other dishes were a 5/10 at best in the MDR.

Your opinion sounds logical. That is why it should make RCI Crown and Anchor members think long and hard about why they cruise. Would they cruise without the C&A perks if they were taken away tomorrow? Is the cruise itinerary, service, food quality, and experience satisfactory for the investment of your time and money? How do you feel when the cruise is done? There has not been a cruise that my wife and I regretted taking for the money that we paid for the experience, with or without C&A perks. Currently, we are not booking future cruises with RCI beyond our existing cruises because in general, the prices have doubled and the experience has been degraded by previous "adjustments" to RCI service and food. I have not found the things changing in a positive manner in meaningful ways to justify a doubling of the cruise fare. "Adjusting" the C&A policies is just one more consideration to throw into the decision matrix.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to do live postings this cruise. I will be on the Jewel for a 9 day in November. I plan to do the MDR every-night and take pictures of the food with my opinions which I will post when the cruise is complete. I try to disconnect from technology on my cruises which I work with everyday. I would be irritable too about the internet connection problems considering the prices paid for the service on onboard. I feel it is worse to have intermittent connections than no connection at all. Again, I thank everyone for sharing.

I have found it the same. If the lines are short for screening, they want to move as many passengers as possible to the check-in counters. The only consideration after that is if you need to use the elevators versus taking a longer walking route through escalators. The walking route is about eight minutes versus the elevators which can handle about ten to fifteen people depending upon carry on luggage taking space in the elevator. The elevator waiting times upon my best guess from watching the flow is about 20 minutes. Almost seems to be pre-pandemic and makes purchasing The Key a waste of money if you want priority boarding. Maybe a 30 minute difference at best.

So the crew members sign-up knowing that they do not know what they are doing and suffer the abuse in order to get internet access. Somehow this seems very much like the American worker experience. I understand so much more about why the Voom experience seems more like the Sloth experience. This is why I like to disconnect from the technical experience while on vacation. Trying to make the Internet connection work seems like going back to the office! 🤣 🥶

It is only double my original booking price, just like yesterday, Still, the price has doubled in less than 12 months, good for me now, not good for me in the future.

Sorry, correction, for some reason my search today was not in USD. My apologies, I knew something had to be wrong.

My latest example of sticker shock: I booked a spacious hump balcony on the Jewel of the Seas in September, 2022, in Next Cruise on the Oasis on September 11. Today, on RCI's website during a mock booking, it is more than 4x my total booking price. This is an almost double from YESTERDAY when I did a mock booking price. It seems like a price fishing expedition as I cannot justify or understand a doubling of price in a 24 hour period. 😬