Engineroom Snipe

You have to be creative and pragmatic. Lots of variables have to be considered but the difference is not as substantial as it used to be (yes, I have noticed that 75% increase too). I do what you do and honestly calculate all of the costs to do a true comparison. The cruise lines better not overplay their hands or money can go elsewhere. 🤔

Every vacation experience, regardless of type, can be a roll-of-the-dice. Maybe that is why they call it a "cr@p-shoot". 😁🤣 Good luck with your outcome. I wish you the best outcome possible (7/11). 😊

Who let the cat out of the bag? 😁🤣 No cruise for you!

This can be very stressful. Just getting family together on one cruise for a specific time period requires so much coordination. You are now trying to get three cabins together with the two original rooms. Cruises this year are at extremely high occupancy. I can understand your anxiety. Yes, there is a considerable amount of money involved but you are also juggling family expectations and every looks at you to be the cruise guru. I started to use a travel advisor after going through such a scenario. My advisor and I keep an email trail and my stress level has been lower since then. When you make it a full time job to coordinate all of the family expectations, it can be exhausting. Hang in there and call as much as possible. So many experienced cruisers will tell you that the "squeaky wheel gets the grease".

It seems not. 😬

I would add that all passengers were identified as vaccinated and tested prior to passage. I am not sure how much more the cruise line could do to prevent the situation.

I am not an alarmist. This is a recent small cruise that had problems. Only reporting what is written. https://en.mercopress.com/2022/01/04/german-cruise-to-canary-islands-interrupted-in-portugal-because-of-covid-outbreak

😲... I was considering that cruise. My decision would not be based on vaccination but your post was the first factual observation that requirements are still changing and in flux. No judgement about the mandatory requirements. We agree to the terms of the cruise or we cancel the cruise. Thank you for the update. 🙂 Even if it is not what I want to hear. 😔

Well, stretching the thought a loooooooong way...., most cruise ships have a start and finish line at the same place too. 🤣

I am watching the same economic conditions which are going to affect discretionary vacation expenditures as you are. 50% of the cruising repeaters will keep cruising. They build in the price increases or find workarounds because they are going to cruise, hell or high water (pun intended). The second 50% of new or occasional cruisers will be most affected which will affect capacity numbers. I believe that the proof will be after this summer season. The summer season is always high demand and revenge vacations are still strong with previous set-aside savings. When the airfare prices start dropping, expect the cruise prices to follow for this is an easy method to see what premiums people are willing to pay to travel. If the economy starts to weaken, there is the possibility that potential cruisers will pull their deposits (100% refundable until about 120 days out in most cases) because some unforeseen economic action happens (loss of job, spouse loss of job, caring for family member who becomes ill). That is the unknown, we cannot predict how many current active deposits are going to convert to actual shipboard passengers. I think September 2023 prices out of Bayonne are telling. The prices are slowly approaching traditional fares at the end of September. The Panoramic View rooms on deck 14 on the Oasis have not even booked one room at $3500 for a 2 person 7-day cruise. Last year, they were offering them at $1700 and they were sold out about 30 days prior to embarkation. At least 25% of them were selected one year out. As so many people have stated, supply and demand. Vacations are a discretionary expense. The cruise lines are only acting like every other corporation in the world. When times are bad, they lose money, when times are good, they try to make as much profit as possible. "Don't take this personally, it's just business." (A line in many gangster movies before something very bad happens) 🤑😁

I have been analyzing the trends and capacity is the common factor, especially concerning Caribbean sailings. One common point is a large majority of East Coast North American cruisers can drive to the port and not fly. That in itself can be a savings offset factor that allows for a more expensive cruise cost factor. The flight fares have risen due to demand. A savings for two flyers of $800 can easily justify a higher cruise price without an overall increase in total vacation package. Just something to ponder.....

I have booked three RCI cruises this year. One was a 9-day cruise in November 2023 with different start and stop ports. I liked the itinerary and wanted a very specific spacious balcony for an anniversary. The cruise was booked in September 2022 onboard. $2,010 with a$100 balcony OBC. Transferred to TA and got another $50 OBC booking credit. I keep checking websites every day and found a three-day window to attain another $200 off for military discount in November 2022. The original $2,010 price is effectively $1660. I need to add gratuities and flights but will avoid parking fees. As I see cabins in my class disappear, the asking price is now (January 2023) $2,400 and I do not see it going down (always a hope that I can get an adjustment if it does). This cabin and cruise would be considered "off-season" and not family friendly which should decrease demand. I am traveling in possibly bad weather (November in the Caribbean), not a family friendly schedule (older children in school during both weeks of the cruise), not work vacation friendly (not a weekend-to-weekend, requiring vacation work scheduling over multiple weekends), and not travel friendly (final port will require one-way airfare ticket home). All that said, I did not think the prices would be going up at eleven months out on such an "unfriendly" cruise. Demand is definitely high for the cruise to be at the current price 11 months out.

Thank you for the consistent updates which may lead to a reason for so many many missed Mystery Island port calls.

OK, we will leave this sleeping dog alone. 🤐 Back to the main topic: if we cannot control loud speakers on-board ship, other bad behaviors will become more acceptable because easily enforceable policies are being ignored by staff. Similar to the old broken windows indicating poor esprit-de-core of a neighborhood. This is associated with higher property crime and theft.

I have gone through onboard security screening returning from port visits to see personnel who performed as entertainers during cruise shows wearing security uniforms and performing security checks. I think the majority of "'security role" assignments have staff doing a "collateral" duty. I do not have numbers or percentages but I notice this on many cruises.

Most of sound bricks don't float and will "swim with the fish". 😁

This is a novel suggestion, a continuous "OOOOoooooommmmmm,......OOOOOOoooommmmm", something peaceful against offensive music. Unless they are a dedicated spiritual specialist, they will not be able to handle more than 29 minutes. I know, my wife used to use the CD for meditation. This will definitely extinguish any party fires or residual burning embers. It is one big lullaby. 😁😌😪🤤😴

I would argue but I would have to bring in musical experts and your theories might be somewhat persuasive. Your Honor, I would like to withdraw my penalty flag for lack of clear and concise evidence to contradict these particular observations and statements. 🤐

Whoa, got to throw the musical flag on that comment for flagrant comparison of voices being similar (I know your goal was to gather major musical irritation for public consumption)! 😵 Bagpipes, while irritating to some, have a special white-noise all of their own and will in most cases, after hours of exposure, put a baby to sleep with their constant base tonal components. Your ears and brain can gently get immune to the vibrations. Whitney, well, she had some pipes that most singers would hope to have and I think my statement about singing to babies is very similar but I give a one hour exposure and they are sound asleep. I gotta give Whitney her due. Yoko Ono Songs, OK, I will watch the replay monitor and speakers. In most cases, I WILL pick up my musical penalty flag. I do not think there are arguments I can make against throwing the flag and most babies will probably not sleep for weeks after exposure. 😇

Unfortunately, just sounds like the computer systems are overloaded with queries. This has been documented on many occasions in the past on a monthly basis. Nothing any user can do except what @Biker19stated. Wait a bit and try again, if you do not succeed, rinse, repeat, and try again. 😁

This summarizes the idea of my multiple posts on this thread. We either deal with it or stop cruising on RCI. At this time, I will keep cruising but the threshold of when I stop will be getting closer with reports like yours. You are not alone in your evaluation of the situation and I have three cruises planned next year. The results might be a breaking point for future reservations if they reflect your experiences. Thank you for a well balanced, thoughtful post.

I can see you at the security checkpoint: "What's in the case?" "A trombone." "Do you play the trombone?" "No, but with enough practice, maybe someday." "Would you please come with us and tell us the real reason you are bringing a trombone aboard today?" "Sometimes people annoy me with loud boom boxes and rude behavior onboard and this is my way of protesting their behaviors." The two agents like Joe Friday and Frank Gannon on Dragnet stare at each other and dryly say, "That sound reasonable but please to not attempt to play it until you are onboard ship, have a nice day."

You know how the 1930s gangsters used violin cases, my imagination runs wild over what you could pack into a trombone case. 😁🤣 I know nothing.(Hogan's Heros, Sargent Schultz.)

About 15 seats around the bar that had a view of 240 degrees aft if I remember correctly. It was the first place we went to after getting our cabin settled for a sail away view. VERY unique. I remember that staircase well because I liked the wood hand rails and trim.

In 1990, my wife and I cruised with around 900 passengers. Very intimate ship, as someone said earlier, it was like a pocket cruiser. It was my 2nd cruise after my 1988 10 night honeymoon cruise on Nordic Prince, another great ship. That November on the Nordic Prince, we bounced around a hurricane for about two days of rough water. Both ships had twin screw constant speed variable pitch propellers, twin rudders, bow thrusters with wing stabilizers. Never had a tug touch us on both ships. We did use tenders on some ports of call. the mosaic in the Nordic Prince main dining room had a Camelot theme.