chisoxfan

I applaud those who want to wear a tux and I was a suit and tie guy for 40 years (and brought a tux on cruises). That said the OP asked if they would feel out of place wearing a tux and I would say unequivocally 'yes' with so few others doing this. Heck, I usually wear a sport coat on boarding (saving wrinkles in not packing and like the numerous pockets) and I feel out of sorts in the real world of tee shirts and shorts which is universal boarding garb in warm weather ports. Even wearing a sport coat on normal dining nights with open dress shirt and dress loafers (oxymoron) seems unusually dressy. So you will be out of place with a tux..... it is certainly your call whether you and your partner are comfortable or not.

Agree we all enjoy cruises in our own way and I am in no way criticizing your view just sharing ours. We are old timers but after considering Regent/ Oceania,etc. we are not buying in. We don't care for the shops, photos, art auctions, charm bracelets etc.(and as frequent cruisers make fun of these between ourselves) either but do enjoy the vibrancy of the larger ships. Always another bar, restaurant, entertainment venue to try (good or bad). We have never gone hungry on HAL, X, Princess, or MSC in suites or MDR's and have never been on a cruise where we thought the food was so exceptional that we would immediately go back (or so bad we would never return). All we ask for in a cabin is cleanliness and a reasonably modern design with a true balcony along with a consistent room attendant and decent room service. Our reason for sometimes getting a suite are expanded options for a dedicated pool and more dining, lounge venues. We don't covet a two bedroom Penthouse suite with a butler when we want to be out enjoying the ship. While I agree with the value of Regency /Oceania as far as what is included it isn't a style of cruising that we are excited about ie. I like having great seats for a baseball game but don't necessarily want to be in the owners suite. It is nice to have a small trailer when camping but not interetsed in a Bluebird Wanderlodge. So bottom line for us, we are hoping that the mainstream cruiselines don't overprice and eviscarate their product (which has brought us much enjoyment in past decade(s)) to the point where cruising becomes unnattractive. JMHO

I (sadly) have to agree. This (Sanctuary) has the making of a suite only area in the future. Possibly they are waiting for acceptance and support of suite booking for what is now 'reasonable pricing'. X has gone insane with their Retreat Pricing as did NCL Haven. MSC YC proved very popular and raised prices accordingly. I am excited for the Princess Sun product but cynically think it will follow the lead of the other lines. JMHO

First of all thanks for the video. Mixed feelings. We have booked a suite so I like the location in the aft and 'real' loungers. The large pool and bar looks promising. I do agree with many posters that the 'regular' Sanctuary section (close together non padded loungers) is not like we have had on other cruises. My main concern is overcrowding? The Retreat on X for suites only seems larger with more diverse seating. So at this point still good with suite booking but have to agree that 'normal' Sanctuary does not seem so appealing. Excited to try new ship and suite amenities which are about the same as MSC YC and half the price of X Retreat. I am sure many more reports will be forthcoming.

Appreciate the comments and want to note the X pricing also affects us who don't gravitate to suites. While we have been on recent cruises on Apex and Ascent in Retreat our sweet spot (no pun intended) is larger mainstream new ships that offer many diversions particularly on warm weather getaway cruises. AQ on S class was for years an ideal compromise for us and we were generally happy campers. While beautiful ships they are now older and E class has abandoned us with IV's in AQ. Along with this the pricing of X has driven us to MSC YC, HAL Club Orange, and now Princess Sun (affordable suite) as much better values. Point being that X has disappointed us on the 'lower' scale offerings much as posters agree in general its suite product is not competitive. JMHO

I guess it depends which Bond they are referring to. I got the same response by wearing a blue suit, white shirt, and tie on a T/A so maybe you don't need to go the tux path. Actually if you wear a tie you are probably in the 'best dressed' category.

I still think major offenders are the 'I'll go down to the pool at 7:30 and save us some chairs crowd' and don't understand why some observant attendants could not patrol this area specifically for a few hours and prevent this. It should be obvious when one person goes down with some books and towels, throws them down on four chairs, and leaves, that this is a problem that can be addressed. The early bird 'reservists' are also in the Retreat. For us who cruise primarily to hang out at pool this is a major frustration.

So the NR deposit is necessary because people are booking cruises and cancelling 91 days in advance but cancellation two days in advance can be handled seamlessly by AI's because they can pick up other days (even though average stay is 4-7 days) and international travel is required... doesn't make sense to me. Most hotels and tour operators (Viator) allow 24hr. cancellations and somehow I do not believe they come up with instant customers to fill a cancellation void. Traditionally for rental cars you just don't show up and no problem. I am sure this is not ideal for operators but it is good for consumers and that is their issue to resolve to maximize customers and profits. Would you defend and buy from Amazon if they decided that offering free returns was not convenient so everything was final sale? You are welcome to support X (and we have for many years) but in the travel marketplace we are free to gravitate to suppliers who meet our respective needs. I don't blame X for blowing up prices, restricting deposit refunds, etc., good for them if the market follows and rewards them. It's not a right or wrong question just one of preferences and sensibilities that each traveler needs to determine.

The cruise Industry already has always had the most punitive 'non refundable' deposit system in place. I would never consider paying in full 90 days in advance for a hotel or all inclusive resort with drastic penalties for cancelling. I booked 10k a week all inclusives with two day cancellation policy and even a two week cancellation raised an eye. Am I to believe that a cruise line is more impacted when a passenger cancels 90 days out versus an AI visitor who cancels a week before in peak vacation time? So we (us frequent cruisers) have blindly accepted the way things have always been but I really have trouble accepting this new wave of non refundable deposits. A cancellation penalty should be a fair compensation for lost revenue not a new punitive profit center. JMHO

Treading dangerously here... If somebody is occupying a seat lounger, etc. good for them. We saw people in theatre grabbing chairs many hours before super bowl parties and understand some want prime seating for Alaska or Panama Canal. Not my cup of tea. But staking claim to multiple prime seating for persons who will not arrive for hours should be off limits. The morning pool 'hogging' is always frustrating and the same phenomenon happens on all cruise lines and AI resorts. On a cruise with one or two 'small' pools a single attendant could be present upon opening and see who is taking advantage of a situation ie. staking out multiple chairs and attempting to leave. They could simply advise that unless your party is here please do not reserve multiple chairs. They can also see people who immediately leave and caution them. It doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to deduce who is doing this. And you even have the most brazen who will 'reserve' loungers in two areas even though they can't use both at the same time. Later in the morning things 'work' out as passengers who just want a chair filter down with no mal intent. I know this is an oft debated topic but I still feel some morning intervention by the pool attendant could stop 80% of the abuse. JMHO

Hey...... let's not talk about this Sun Princess 'thing' so much. We saw MSC YC explode from unknown to hard to get. Wait, I heard the Sun Princess uses paper napkins and maybe you want to rethink.

Glad you received your deposit back and was amazed at the pro/cons ie. whose at fault arguments resulting from your post. What struck me was that a T/A (hopefully a valued player for X) could not negotiate ANY resolution regarding a deposit accommodation for an Elite passenger? I mean a transfer costs them nothing and just seems a reasonable resolution.... okay maybe they can tack on a small fee . To me this goes beyond who is reading the fine print or was uncommunicative but signals X has concerning, diminished interest in being responsive to 'loyal' customers. JMHO

Same here, X is crazy. We were in SS on Ascent in Jan. Same cabin in Jan 25 is 10,800k without 600 OBC. refundable fare added 2000! AQ with premium AI and non refundable almost 6k. Basically you can book comparable suites on MSC YC and Princess Sun (both with dedicated suite areas and many inclusions) for about the same as AQ on this Ascent cruise- Fully refundable on Princess and more liberal deposit refund (change at small fee- which I still don't like) on MSC (YC only). To the point, the stringent NR deposit policy of X just adds insult to injury when evaluating the value X now offers. JMHO

My definition of a chair hog would be persons who come down in the morning and stake out multiple desirable loungers with their stuff and leave without even sitting down. Someone who uses the space and leaves hours later for lunch or activity with the idea of returning does not bother me.

Chase Sapphire Reserve has 100k medical evac, Sapphire Reserve does not. They have trip cancellation coverage due to cause (10k pp) also that I feel comfortable with. Third party evac insurance is cheap and often includes some small medical benefit (current med insurance covers out of country). Just purchased an evac policy (250k) for 1 week Caribbean for 17 bucks ( well known insurance company). So this is all the insurance we need. Just a comment on group rates and insurance. In one instance, after purchase from major T/A I discovered this group rate would not allow insurance purchase from the cruise line. Even though I was not that interested in this I was miffed it was not disclosed. I have no idea if this is typical but might need to be considered for some.

I have had a few of these but not often. I have had some limitations when booking with group rates also . Anyway, now booking with cruise line, checking two T/A sources and then transfer booking. Frankly knowing X is not offering 'typical' NR deposits I will not be looking at them as a primary option not to say I would not cruise them if the opportunity arose.

Not sure I follow. I have used several agents and don't know any who can 'waive' a non refundable deposit without using insurance which is not always that transparent (or cheap). Anyway, I don't stay up at night worrying about it. If X offered some extraordinary value to me I might rethink the NR deposit as much as I disfavor it. Just hoping that HAL and Princess don't follow suit- unlikely if X doesn't see any market repercussions.

I refuse to book a cruise (or hotel) with a non refundable deposit. X offers refundable option but as many know the price add on is insane (numbers in Retreat I have seen are 15-17% premium often much more than an actual cancellation). MSC YC has smaller deposit requirements that are NR and at least offer some options for rescheduling. Princess and HAL have resisted the NR option so they will get my business. I mean a cruise is fully paid for 90 days or more out which is way more onerous than most hotels and some lines still think they can apply even more stringent NR policies? JMHO ps. glad initial poster was reimbursed by TA but not sure that is where the ultimate problem lies.

Agree. I have been 'shocked' to see some walking tours (not just from HAL) in towns for 80-140 pp. We are probably 'backwards' in our booking process especially with generally full ships in the marketplace. We find and book a cruise of interest (fortunately CCL lines don't charge cancellation fees) and then research airfare, excursions, transfers ie. travel logistics. On several recently, when we 'figure things out' , we determine it just 'isn't worth it'. That is, the cruise is attractive but not when considering air options, pre and post hotels, and excursions. Maybe that is the next 'package' frontier. We used to wait in anticipation for the last night 'bar bill' which was eliminated with drink packages. Perhaps on itinerary 'based' cruises there will be more 'packages' to include tours. JMHO

We cancelled an Arctic Circle cruise (June 24) in part because the HAL excursions were sold out. Usually we would look to Viator or local excursions but these are few and far between in Norway. Certainly not the only reason we cancelled but was surprised that HAL did not have better availability. I understand that there are limited providers in these ports but really don't want to commit to a cruise where excursions are so sparse. It's not like HAL is giving these away. JMHO

Glad I checked. Unbeknownst to me X had transferred the FCC to the national TA I used for the particular trip. I knew you could specify a TA when you made an aboard booking but didn't think a transfer would be made to them without request. Anyway they (TA) found it and refunded. The TA intimated it was kind of in a 'black hole' based on the way it was transferred and doubted there would have been any mechanism for refund automatically.

Ouch, that is a bit different. I will call X. Hopefully they won't have a charge to talk to agent.

Thanks! Not a lot of money so we will wait for refund.

We purchased a FCC on Apex in October (100 pp) dropping our 'form' in box at Future cruise area. We have been on another X cruise since then and aren't seriously considering any future cruises with X. We were surprised this credit does not show up on our account (unless not looking in right place). Anyway, my understanding is that the extra credit would be for cruises booked within 6 mos. When this does not happen is there a mechanism for automatic refund (200) or does one need to contact X? Along those lines can one simply cancel/ refund prior to 6mos.? Many thanks in advance for response.

I agree. I don't really care about a butler but tales of morning coffee and croissants delivered and mini fridges filled make me feel I was missing something. No butler at all on 10nt. Apex Oct. 23 and a 'non-existent' head butler on Ascent in Jan. Apparently X feels they can mix up services, drink packages, etc between cruises in Retreat at their whim (and apparently by ship) and we are all supposed to be OK with this and applaud the unknown return. Heck of a way to run a business impacting your highest revenue passengers. JMHO ps. reminds me of a complaint I filed with Westin in Paris regarding the shabby accommodations of a very expensive 4 star hotel. 'But sir we are going to renovate the property in several months".